The early outlook for the 1997 grain harvest remains satisfactory. The area sown to winter grains declined slightly to 48 000 hectares; that sown to wheat declined while the rye area remained stable. The bulk of the harvest is spring grains which are being planted. The aggregate area sown to grains could continue to decline marginally. Growing conditions to date have been mostly satisfactory but the land privatization process, limited access to credit, structural shortcomings in the domestic food processing industry and keen competition with imported foodstuffs, all combine to limit farm income and to keep yields below potential.