Ukraine's agriculture ministry said on Tuesday that farmers had sown almost 3 million hectares of winter crops as of Oct. 3.

The area included 1.7 million hectares of winter wheat, or 40% of the expected area, the ministry said in a statement.

Ukraine is a traditional grower of winter wheat, which accounts for at least 95% of its overall wheat output.

The ministry also said farmers had sown 109,000 hectares of winter barley and 1.1 million hectares of winter rapeseed.

Producers plan to sow 4.4 million hectares of winter wheat, 692,100 hectares of winter barley and 1.2 million hectares of winter rapeseed this year.

Ukrainian weather forecasters have said the prolonged absence of rain in most Ukrainian regions had created unfavourable conditions for sowing and development of winter crops.

Ukraine is expected to harvest 79 million tons of grain and oilseed in 2023, with 2023/24 exportable surplus totals of about 50 million tons. (Reporting by Pavel Polityuk, editing by Ed Osmond)