Pea production in Ukraine may decline, but export demand will continue to grow

As of June 5, 2025, 212 thousand hectares were sown with peas in Ukraine, or 98% of the projected 217.4 thousand hectares, which corresponds to last year’s figure, although analysts predicted an increase in areas to 250 thousand hectares.

The most peas were sown in:

• Odesa region – 60.7 thousand hectares,
• Mykolaiv region – 27.5 thousand hectares,
• Kirovohrad region – 18.7 thousand hectares,
• Dnipropetrovsk region – 17.2 thousand hectares,
• Kharkiv region – 16.9 thousand hectares.

These regions collectively provided over 67% of all areas sown with peas.

Sowing took place against the backdrop of a deficit of precipitation and frost, so the pea harvest will be lower than last year and will amount to 420-450 thousand tons, but the export forecast remains at the level of 400 thousand tons. In 2024, 465 thousand tons of peas were threshed in Ukraine from 212 thousand hectares with an average yield of 2.19 tons/hectare.

According to the president of the Ukrainian Bean and Soybean Association, Antonina Sklyarenko, the main buyers of Ukrainian peas over the past three years have been Turkey, India, Italy, UAE, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Malaysia.

Demand for Ukrainian peas will grow due to the decision of the Indian authorities to extend duty-free imports of yellow peas from May 31, 2025 to March 31, 2026 and the opening of the Chinese market to Ukrainian peas.

China is one of the world’s largest importers of legumes, so its introduction of a 100% tariff on Canadian peas starting March 7 will increase the competitiveness of Ukrainian peas. China’s certification of Ukrainian peas will stabilize prices for the new crop.

Purchase prices for peas in Ukraine in the MY 2024/25 remained at a high level of $260-285/t or UAH 13,500-15,000/t with delivery to ports, and increased export demand in the new season (especially from China) will contribute to an increase in export prices.

Tags: Ukraine, crop forecast, pea