News 360 4 December 2022 - by Daniel Stewart
Russia has harvested about 5.8 million tons of Ukrainian wheat this year worth about $1 billion in 2022, according to data released by the U.S. space agency (NASA).
NASA's food security and agriculture program, NASA Harvest, is based on satellite data and modeling conducted in collaboration with several related agencies.
The data suggest that some 26.6 million tons of wheat have been harvested across Ukraine this year, significantly higher than initially forecast.
However, this figure is lower than last year's record harvest, when 33 million tons were achieved.
"The analysis showed that 5.8 million tons of wheat were harvested in areas that were not under Ukraine's control. That represents a loss of at least $1 billion," said expert Abdolreza Abbassian.
From these figures, 22 percent of the wheat, which was grown in the Russian-controlled eastern part of the country, must be subtracted.
Declining global wheat demand and increasing supplies helped stabilize world wheat prices over the summer, said Joseph Glauber, a NASA Harvest advisor and senior researcher at the Food Policy Research Institute.
"But this does not mean the food crisis is over," Glauber reminded.
"International food prices remain high by historical standards, markets remain tight, and high price volatility continues, especially for wheat," he concluded
