KIEV, Feb. 20 ??“ Ukraine's grain harvest may increase to about 38 million metric tons in 2007, up from about 34.3 million metric tons in 2006, an Agriculture Ministry official reported.

"Today we have all the grounds to say that 38 million tons [for the grain harvest in 2007] is a realistic figure," the director of department for agriculture market development, Anatoliy Rogozin, said on Tuesday.

The Agriculture Ministry forecasts that the wheat harvest may be 17.8 million tons in 2007, rye ??“ 0.708 million tons, barley ??“ 9.8 million tons, maize ??“ 7.2 million tons, and other crops ??“ 2.5 million tons.