General Director of the Ukrainian Agrarian Confederation Pavlo Koval, speaking to Ukrainian Radio, highlighted numerous ongoing problems facing agrarians, which accumulate issues and will manifest themselves in the medium and even long term.
One of these problems, he noted, is the disruption of the structure of cultivated areas and rational crop rotations.
"Today, we are moving along with the market's demands. We used to sow about a million hectares of winter barley. This year, it's less, and the same goes for spring crops. What did we replace them with? Obviously, with more profitable crops. Oilseeds, legumes. This includes soybeans, rapeseed, and sunflowers," clarified Pavlo Koval.
He added that nearly 5 million hectares were sown with sunflowers this year.
"But what kind of crop structure is this if we have more sunflowers, such a complex crop, than winter wheat, more than grains? These are its predecessors. This means that somewhere we will be sowing sunflowers after sunflowers, rapeseed after sunflowers, and vice versa. And this is not good from the standpoint of the natural replenishment of the land. But farmers are going along with it today. Because of despair," the specialist added.
Pavlo Koval emphasized that the basic export-oriented crops have become unprofitable in Ukraine.
"Soybeans, sugar beets - these are specific crops; you can't sow them on 5 million hectares, even though we increased plantings this year. Rapeseed is growing. And, by the way, we started processing more rapeseed in Ukraine. This is also a positive effect. But it's also a forced measure; we still need to look at its effectiveness.
Wheat is breaking even for many. Barley, oats - these were unprofitable crops. During the harvest period, some even had to sell sunflower seeds at a loss, especially micro-enterprises and small ones, which, unfortunately, are forced to sell for cash directly from the field. And maize was left in the field for the winter," reminded the CEO of the UAC.
Pavlo Koval noted that in the coming years, Ukraine will face a decrease in gross harvests and a deterioration in the quality of grain.
"Unfortunately, we may lose our segments in global markets. And the most unpleasant thing is that our enemy, the aggressor, will replace us on these global platforms. We are already seeing this in some markets," he concluded.
