Buckwheat acreage has declined significantly in Ukraine
Ukraine has seen a sharp decline in the area planted with buckwheat. According to data for 2023–2025, the area under this crop has shrunk from 147,900 hectares to 58,500 hectares, which is nearly three times less. Buckwheat remains one of the country’s key food crops.
"Following the start of the full-scale invasion, farmers significantly expanded buckwheat cultivation as a strategic crop for domestic consumption. As a result, in 2022 the area reached 121,000 hectares, and in 2023—a record 147,900 hectares. However, by 2024, there was a sharp reduction in acreage to 90,300 hectares, and in 2025—to 58,500 hectares," the expert notes.
Farmers’ declining interest in the crop was caused by overproduction and, consequently, a drop in buckwheat’s price attractiveness. However, this past spring, average producer prices approached the record level of 2022 at 49–53 thousand UAH per ton.
Consequently, for consumers, the retail price of buckwheat groats has risen over the past 2.5 years—from December 2023 to May 2026—from 30 UAH/kg to over 70 UAH/kg. Consequently, growing this crop is once again becoming attractive to farmers.
There are no official statistics on this year’s plantings yet. The Institute of Agricultural Economics forecasts an increase in buckwheat acreage to about 99,000 hectares—which will exceed the 2024 level. Accordingly, the gross buckwheat harvest is expected to be between 120,000 and 150,000 tons.
"The most likely scenario is the moderate one, in which the yield will be about 13.6 cwt/ha, and the gross harvest will reach 135,000 tons. Even under a pessimistic scenario, expected production volumes will remain sufficient to meet the country’s domestic needs, reducing the risk of a buckwheat groats shortage in the domestic market,” notes Cheremisina.
Ukraine’s annual demand is about 100,000 tons of buckwheat grain, the researcher notes. Buckwheat is one of Ukraine’s unique crops, as its production is primarily geared toward domestic consumption, unlike most other crops.
These figures were provided by Svitlana Cheremisina, Ph.D. in Economics and Senior Research Fellow at the Department of Agricultural Market and International Integration of the Institute of Agricultural Economics, in a comment to AgroPortal.ua.
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