Ukraine will increase rapeseed acreage by a third if the war in Iran drags on — Vysotsky

Ukraine may increase the area under rapeseed by a third, to 1.5 million hectares, if the conflict in Iran drags on. Deputy Economy Minister Taras Vysotsky said this, Reuters reports.

According to him, a sharp increase in world fuel prices is increasing demand for raw materials for biodiesel.

Fuel prices have risen sharply after the US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28 triggered a conflict in the Middle East, which raised fears of further price increases if the war drags on.

“If this situation drags on, then yes — farmers will expand the area under rapeseed and could reach 1.5 million hectares in the fall, which is 400 thousand hectares more than today. However, it is difficult to increase the area so significantly in one year,” Vysotsky said.

He added that farmers still have time to decide which crops to replace rapeseed with. An additional 400,000 hectares could yield at least 1 million tons of rapeseed.

Tags: rapeseed, sown area, biofuel, Ukraine