Winter wheat accounts for more than 95% of Ukraine's overall wheat output. During winter, up to 7% of the winter sowing area usually dies, mainly due to heavy frosts and ice crust on fields, but the winter has been milder this year.

Farmers sowed about 4.2 million hectares of winter wheat for the 2024 harvest.

"The results of plant regrowth... showed that the survival rate of winter cereals (wheat, rye) was 98-99%," the ministry said in a statement.

It added that up to 5% of winter barley was also damaged this winter.

(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Susan Fenton)