The autumn sowing campaign showed that the area under winter wheat decreased by 40-45% compared to 2021. Deputy Chairman of the Ukrainian Agri Council, Denys Marchuk, stated this on TV7+. The negative trend is due to the consequences of the war, lack of funds for farmers and weather conditions.

"Occupation, hostilities, destroyed farms, mined fields, problems with logistics - led to a decrease in the opportunities of farmers to carry out sowing properly. The lack of financing forces farmers to use less modern technologies and apply fertilizers. This will affect the harvest of 2023, although the last season has already showed a drop in the volume of traditional crops harvest by almost 50%," said Denys Marchuk.

Negative factors continue to worsen the situation, and the spring sowing of 2023 is already under threat. If the state does not support farmers, then Ukraine will not receive foreign exchange earnings from exports, and the world will not receive food.

"The situation in the east, south and northern regions is much more difficult than in the rest of Ukraine. On many liberated lands of the north, shelling by Russia is still continuing. Farmers have to work in these conditions. Therefore, their profits will fall more than those of farmers in the central or western regions. In addition to the war issues, we see that domestic grain prices are well below market prices. It affects the work of enterprises and the preparation for the future sowing season", said Denys Marchuk.

But he added that according to the FAO survey, every fourth enterprise in Ukraine either closes or reduces its production capacity. So today there is no need to talk about profits, the business is focused on saving jobs and minimal support of own production.

The Deputy Chairman of the UAC emphasized that the reduction of acreage cannot threaten the food security of Ukraine. Farmers always harvest more than the domestic market can consume. Nevertheless, UAC offers a solution for farmers who have lost the opportunity to work.

"Those agrarians in whose fields hostilities are taking place, or whose lands are mined, or those who left the occupation, can quickly resume their economic activities. These businessmen are not new to agribusiness, they have experience and a vision of how a successful agribusiness should work. UAC has repeatedly proposed at the legislative level to provide such farmers with the opportunity to obtain state lands on preferential terms, including the lands of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine. Receiving the main means of production, agrarians will quickly restore their farms, and at the same time, new jobs will be created and taxes will be paid," Denys Marchuk emphasized.

According to him, today the agricultural sector of Ukraine already has more than $40 in direct and indirect losses related to the war. Of these, direct losses amount to $6.6 billion - these are destroyed farms, warehouses, elevators, administrative buildings, equipment, etc. Indirect losses amount to more than $ 35 billion - this is lost profit. 

"UAC jointly with USAID-AGRO created an online map www.agrirecovery.com.ua, where farmers enter data on recorded losses. This forms the evidence base of those crimes that Russia leaves behind. Such generalized information will turn into lawsuits for damages by the aggressor country", - said Denys Marchuk.

In addition, on the UAC website, farmers can familiarize themselves with methodological data  https://bit.ly/3VsTZwj  about the legally correct collection of evidence of losses caused to the enterprise. These algorithms were created on the basis of the best practices of the international experience of fixing losses caused by war.

For those who have questions, there is a hotline: +38 067-503-19-08, where UAC specialists provide consultations and lead affected farmers at each stage of fixing losses. After the victory, the documents for the courts will be ready, and farmers will be able to receive compensation for losses.