The difficult past year, with the arrival of Russian invaders on our land, painfully hit the Ukrainian agricultural sector. This led to significant material and financial losses, disruptions in logistics, and crop losses. found out how domestic farmers overcame the challenges of the war and what to expect in the new year.

Ukrainians will now forever associate last year with the beginning of a full-scale invasion of Russian invaders on our land. The merciless war left its bloody mark not only in the souls and hearts of Ukrainian citizens, but also negatively affected the economy of our country.

The domestic agricultural sector, which before the war provided about 20 percent of the country’s gross domestic product, also suffered a painful blow. After all, millions of tons of grain and significant amounts of agricultural machinery and equipment were exported from the occupied territories of Ukraine by the invaders. Hundreds of granaries were also destroyed due to the shelling, and part of the fertile Ukrainian land is littered with mines and other explosives, which retreat and leave heaps behind.

In general, according to the calculations of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food together with the Kyiv School of Economics, direct losses from the war in the agriculture of Ukraine as of September reached 6.6 billion dollars. The biggest losses were in agricultural machinery – 84,200 units of machinery and equipment were completely or partially damaged in the amount of 2.9 billion dollars. And losses in the amount of 1.9 billion dollars occurred as a result of the destruction or theft of 4 million tons of grain and oil crops.

But despite the significant losses from this terrible war, Ukrainian farmers accepted the military challenges with dignity and passed the extremely difficult last year with dignity.

“Ukrainian farmers showed indomitability. And they did a lot of work last year, sowing in the spring, where the military situation allowed, harvesting, selling it and, accordingly, sowing it in the fall,” said First Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine Taras Vysotskyi.

Military obstacles

Every year, domestic farmers faced seasonal and climatic barriers. These were an excessive amount of rain or, on the contrary, a drought, the development of diseases on plants or the activation of pests. This year more military challenges were added. In particular, this is the preservation of teams of specialists, the reservation of necessary specialists, the complexity of carrying out work and the subsequent export of one’s products or their storage.

“Also, the agricultural sector faced a change in sales markets. This applies not only to grain, but also to products with added value, for example, oilseeds (sunflower and rapeseed) or legumes – soybeans, peas. This also includes logistics. Previously, the ways were worked out for years and low-risk ones, and in 2022, due to a full-scale invasion, seaports were blocked, which made up a significant share of export routes,” Suzanne Hryhorenko, executive director of the Seed Association of Ukraine, told .

In addition, part of the Ukrainian lands was or remains in the war zone, which made it impossible to carry out field work on them. And the de-occupied territories do not immediately become suitable for use after liberation.

“The conduct of economic activity is also complicated by problems with the sale of products grown by farmers, and accordingly, the lack of funds, quality seeds and other resources. It is primarily about fuel, electricity, pesticides, fertilizers, etc.,” – emphasized the director of the “Institute of Agrarian Economy” Yuriy Lupenko.

According to him, the shortage of qualified machine operators has also worsened, as they are called to the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

“Military actions and the limited access of commodity producers to markets and resources negatively affected the production of agricultural products in all regions of the country. However, those industries where hostilities are taking place were the most affected,” the scientist concluded.

Success against all odds

However, no matter what difficulties the war brought, agrarian Ukraine found a way out of difficult situations. And she managed not only to provide herself with food, but also to remain a reliable partner on the world market.

At the beginning of the full-scale enemy invasion of our lands, all logistics practically stopped. Because the Ukrainian seaports, through which the largest volumes of exports went, remained under occupation or were blocked by Russian pirates. Therefore, the western borders became almost the only option for trade with other countries.

In order to increase export volumes of agricultural products, the European Union launched the “Paths of Solidarity” program in May. These routes made it possible to speed up exports and the work of customs between Ukraine and EU countries. As a result, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, during the 9 months of the war, Ukraine managed to export 19 million tons of agricultural products through these alternative routes.

In addition, thanks to the efforts of Ukrainian diplomats, with the mediation of the UN and Turkey, the three Black Sea ports “Odesa”, “Chornomorsk” and “Pivdenny” resumed their work for the transportation of food from August 1. And despite constant obstacles from the Russian side, at the end of the year, as the head of state Volodymyr Zelenskyi reported, Ukraine managed to export more than 15 million tons of food – primarily grain – to more than 40 countries of the world.

Also, at the end of November, on the initiative of the president, the Grain from Ukraine program was launched, within the framework of which Ukrainian grain is exported to countries in Africa and Asia, which suffer the most from the food crisis and need urgent assistance. More than 30 donor countries have already joined this program and almost 200 million dollars have been involved.

“Overall, in 11 months of 2022, Ukraine exported 50.9 million tons of agricultural and food industry products for a total amount of 21.1 billion dollars. In terms of volume, this is 16.7 percent, and in value – 13.7% less than in 11 months of 2021,” concluded Economy Minister Yulia Svyridenko.

Another significant agrarian success was the fact that despite all the military troubles, our country was able to fully provide itself with food.

“We helped to carry out the most difficult sowing in the history of Ukraine on time. Thanks to this, we harvested more than 60 million tons of crops. And Ukraine will definitely provide itself with food next year,” said Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, summing up the results of 2022.

But last year, Ukraine was far from crop records, as it was in 2021, when the harvested crop amounted to 106 million tons of oilseeds and grains. But with such a heroic people, all our victories are yet to come.

Indomitable farmers

It was possible to successfully spend the most difficult season of agricultural work thanks to the invincibility of our farmers. Despite the considerable risks, sometimes even under fire, they went out into the fields, tilled and sowed them and tended them to reap the harvest.

As Maxim Havel, a farmer from the Dnipropetrovsk region, said, in the spring before sowing, due to the difficult situation in the country, most farmers had many questions that no one could answer. Therefore, everyone acted at their own discretion.

“The season in 2022 was not easy, because at the beginning of the sowing season, many producers had a question: should they sow at all. There were also doubts whether to use fertilizers or expensive hybrids during sowing, or to save on this,” he told .

In turn, the head of the “Zoryane” farm Oleksandr Kyrychenko emphasized that the help from the state played a significant role in conducting field work.

“This season, without state financial assistance, we would not have been able to reach a more or less profitable level. Since the prices of agricultural products remained at the pre-war level or even lower, and the costs of their production have increased several times. We hope that the state will continue to subsidize.” our shoulder,” he said.

According to the head of the farm, Kirichenko, thanks to the favorable weather during the vegetation period, it was possible to collect a good harvest of grain and oil crops. He noted that producers who did not sell oilseeds directly from the field will now be able to sell them at attractive prices.

As Havel reported, the early crops, which he was able to sow before the war, managed to be harvested on time and with good yields. However, the grain had to be sold at a low price in order to have some funds to continue working.

“As for sunflower, the harvesting of its crop was delayed by a month or a half due to rainy weather. However, seed harvesting was carried out and its yield was about 20 t/ha. The price of sunflower is not as critical as the price of wheat, but it is still low.” – he emphasized.

What the new year brings

Already in the first winter month, the new sowing season is getting closer. And no matter how much we would like to believe in miracles, it is worth realizing that it will be very difficult for farmers to conduct field work this year.

According to Deputy Minister of Agricultural Policy Taras Vysotskyi, if last year as of February 24, farmers were fully ready for sowing, now there are problems with liquidity, availability of finances, which complicates and slows down preparation for field work. However, the farmers are determined.

“Agrarians will sow the maximum area of ​​crops wherever the security situation allows. We hope that 2023, which will not be easy, will be able to pass confidently, having grown enough bread for domestic consumption and export,” said Vysotsky.

According to the Prime Minister of Ukraine, in the fall of 2022, winter cereals were sown on 4.8 million hectares in controlled territories, which is about 40 percent less compared to the previous year.

“We expect that more spring crops will be sown in the spring to compensate. But it is obvious that the large minefields, the factor of uncertainty and the constant attacks of the enemy will affect the quantitative indicators of this year’s harvest. This is a problem that will have to be solved,” Shmigal told reporters.

He emphasized that the state will continue to support the domestic agricultural sector, but the resource is limited. Therefore, negotiations are underway regarding support from partner countries – the EU, the USA, and the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, FAO. Many such agreements have already been reached, in particular with the European Commission and USAID.

In general, according to the forecast calculations of the scientists of the Institute of Agrarian Economics, if the external and internal factors of agricultural production do not change significantly, then in 2023 the yield is expected to decrease by 10-15 percent – mainly due to a decrease in the amount of mineral fertilizers applied, due to their inaccessibility to the main mass of agricultural . enterprises and farms.

“Despite the state of war, the political and economic situation in the country, as well as global climate challenges, agricultural producers will bet primarily on the cultivation of crops that bring them profit. That is, 21-22 percent of the total sown area will be allocated to wheat, 22- 23 percent, barley – 8-9 percent, sunflower – 23-25 ​​percent, soy – 7-8 percent and rapeseed – 5-6 percent,” the scientists said.

The cost of food is increasing

In the dramatic past year, price spikes for certain food products periodically occurred in Ukraine, which were also accompanied by artificial excitement on the part of consumers.

“In the spring, when a shortage of salt was predicted, I bought a few kilograms of it. Now there will be enough supplies for a long time,” said Maryna Petrivna from Kyiv.

As for the prices of food products, she noted that she particularly felt the increase in the price of eggs and pork on her wallet.

According to the State Statistics Service, food prices rose by 35.1 percent in 2022 (last November to the same month in 2021) with the country’s overall consumer inflation rate at 26.5 percent. Prices for eggs – almost doubled, for fruits – by 64 percent, bread and bread products – by 32 percent, oil – by 27.3 percent, meat and meat products – by 24.6 percent, increased the most.

“Among the meat, the price of pork has increased the most, which is due to the loss of pig farms in the east of our country, where the concentration of such livestock farms has traditionally been increased, as well as the disruption of the technological chain of pork production. At the beginning of the war, some farms did not breed piglets due to the uncertainty that affected the reduced current supply and rising prices,” said Svitlana Lytvyn, an analyst of the Ukrainian Agrarian Business Club.

At the end of the year, food prices were also affected by power outages caused by constant rocket attacks by Russian terrorists, as it complicates the production and storage of products. But most experts believe that this will not affect the price policy and the increase in the cost of products as a result will not exceed 5 percent.

Last year made us realize what a strong and indomitable nation we are. And we can overcome all the difficulties that the merciless Russian war brought us. In particular, Ukrainian farmers, despite fears and obstacles, were able to pass the agricultural season with dignity, thanks to which Ukraine is now provided with food for at least a year.

In addition, our state was able to return to the world food market and thereby proved that it is a reliable partner for many countries. In 2023, our diplomats will still have to fight for the continuation of the “grain agreement” regarding the export of Ukrainian grain and its distribution to the ports of Mykolaiv.

This is important because before the war agricultural exports brought the country more than 40 percent of all export revenues. And we all understand that stable export supplies provide stability to our national currency, the hryvnia. There is another important aspect – social: before the war, money from the sale of food products, including the sale of grain crops abroad, provided income to 7.5 million Ukrainians who worked in the agricultural sector.

The New Year does not promise to be calmer. But thanks to our heroic defenders, and with the help of our hardworking farmers, the support of the state and the world, Ukraine will be able to continue to provide itself and other countries with quality food. And we, Ukrainians, can only step into the new year with hope and believe that it will give us the opportunity to live and work under a peaceful sky.

Olena Kyrychenko