KIEV, Sept. 9 - Ukraine's Agriculture Ministry has increased its forecast for the 2009 grain harvest from 42 million-43 million tons to 45 million tons, Minister Yuriy Melnyk told journalists in Kiev on Wednesday.

"We hope that by including corn in the [pre-processing] weight the harvest could come to around 45 million tons," he said.

He added that by factoring a forecast increase in the harvest, the ministry had also boosted its forecast for grain export in the current agricultural year (July 2009-June 2010) from 17 million tons to 18 million tons.