Ukrainian spring-grain planting is lagging behind year-earlier rates, agricultural researcher UkrAgroConsult said.

Early spring grains covered 116,000 hectares (286,642 acres) as of March 22, mainly in Crimea and the Odessa region in the country’s south, the Kiev-based researcher said today in an e-mailed statement. That compares with 156,000 hectares at the same date last year, it said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Daryna Krasnolutska in Kiev at dkrasnolutsk@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Balazs Penz at bpenz@bloomberg.net