Total agricultural production declines 1% y-o-y in 2010

Total agricultural production was down 1% in 2010, according to the State Statistics Committee, vs. marginal +0.1% in 2009 and +17.1% in 2008. Last year’s decline was caused by a 14.8% drop in crops to 39.2 mln mt, following -13.6% in 2009. At the same time, the beet and sunflower harvest was up 36.0% and 6.4% in 2010, respectively. Beef cattle livestock continued to be squeezed (by 3.6% in 2010, after –3.2% in 2009), while poultry livestock grew by 6.1% (+7.3% in 2009).