Rescuers working in the de-occupied territories along the frontline, in particular from Kharkiv, Kherson, and Mykolaiv regions, receive tens of thousands of requests for farmland demining every week. The State Emergency Service of Ukraine does not hide the fact that the wait will be long. So in this situation, farmers risk losing their crops for the second year in a row, and even worse, they risk their own lives by going out into the fields to prevent a food crisis.

According to Andriy Dykun, head of the Ukrainian Agri Council and SaveUA charity fund, the media reports daily about his colleagues being blown up by mines, and about damage or complete loss of equipment due to mines. Small farmers often mine fields for sowing on their own, which has catastrophic consequences, as people die. Due to the threat to life, most farmers skip the sowing season altogether. In particular, large agricultural enterprises in the Kherson region did not even start the spring sowing season, which is why Ukraine and the EU countries will not receive Kherson vegetables this year.

"Kherson region used to have the largest vegetable market in Europe. Vegetables, watermelons, berries - all these were planted on the left-bank part of the region, which was under occupation. This year we will not see any Kherson watermelons or vegetables. We might get a small amount of sunflower and grain," says Ihor Yosypenko, a member of the Ukrainian Agri Council, head of an agricultural enterprise in Kherson Oblast. He adds that "out of the entire Kherson region, only the Right Bank has a small amount of land that is not heavily mined. Literally in two communities, farmers have partially sown winter crops, very small areas, and as of now, they are preparing the soil for sunflower. This is a narrow strip of fields bordering the Dnipro region.

The largest area of contaminated land is in the south and east of Ukraine. More than 208,000 hectares need to be surveyed in Kherson Oblast, almost 160,000 hectares in Kharkiv Oblast, and more than 85,000 hectares in Mykolaiv Oblast.

"In Ukraine, about 174 thousand square kilometers of land are currently potentially contaminated. This is the land that is a source of food for about 81 million people around the world. This is an extremely large amount of work that Ukraine can accomplish only with the help of the international community. Humanitarian demining of Ukrainian territories requires ten times more specialists trained to international standards than are currently working in Ukraine. We must all work together to solve this problem to save the world from a food crisis and the lives of Ukrainian civilians from the deadly danger posed by mined areas," says Andriy Dykun.

Without de-mining, dairy farms in the de-occupied and frontline regions will not be able to prepare roughage for livestock and will be forced to significantly reduce or even close the dairy business. 

For Ukraine, this means loss of jobs and loss of motivation for Ukrainians to return to their homes. It is also a big loss of investment, which takes at least 10 years to return in dairy farming.

Already, farms that have been physically unable to carry out economic activities for six months or more cannot pay for demining services on their own and risk bankruptcy, as they have lost 30-70% of their dairy herds, suffered significant damage to production facilities, warehouses, and agricultural machinery, lost potential harvests due to fires, or harvested nothing due to mined fields.

Currently, the cost of de-mining ranges from $600 to $3,500 and more per hectare. But none of the farms that need demining can afford it. After all, the average wheat yield in 2022 was 4 tons per hectare, and the average feed wheat price for the first quarter of 2023 was $150 per ton, meaning that farmers could potentially receive the same $600 per hectare of wheat. 

Oleksandr Sazonov, director of Agroservice LTD, Kharkiv region: "More than 2 out of 6 thousand hectares of the farm's land need urgent demining. The demarcation line passed through our fields and there was very dense mining, not to mention anti-personnel mines or remnants of shelling, which were literally watered down. During 2022, during the occupation, we were not able to physically prepare any roughage, and the cattle are now eating the remains of the 2021 harvest.

Immediately after the liberation, we thought about how to quickly increase the 400 cows that died because of the shelling in order to restore jobs and pre-war milk production. Now we have abandoned this idea. If there is no demining, we risk being forced to slaughter at least 30% of the cows. Before the war, the farm employed 155 people on a regular basis. If we close the dairy business, 130 of them will lose their jobs."

Petro Stupun, director of SK VOSTOK LLC, Kharkiv region: "Currently, the company has 300 hectares of unmined land. 250 hectares of them have been hit and still have unexploded shells. The district State Emergency Service has detailed information about our situation, but their priority now is to clear the utility companies, and it is not known when the turn will come to agricultural land. Private entities offering demining for fabulous prices have proven to be very bad. Neighboring businesses that have used their services have suffered huge losses in equipment and people because they simply get blown up by mines. We are looking for support and opportunities for humanitarian demining."

Vasyl Kalgan, director of Bazaliyevsky Kolos, Kharkiv region: "If there is no demining, we will completely lose not only the livestock sector but also the farm as a whole. We don't have a single field that has been explored. The stocks of fodder for cows will last only until July this year. It is critical to clear the fields of mines during the summer. This will give us a chance to save the farm."

Halyna Holovko, head of Mriya LLC, Kharkiv region: "Only two dairy farms survived the fighting and occupation in our Kupiansk district: ours and another one. Before the war, we had 3 times a day milking and handed over 32 tons of milk for processing every day. In January 2023, due to blackouts and shelling, we came down to one-time milking and 8 tons of milk. Two grain warehouses of 6 thousand tons each were lost due to shelling. But we survived! We continue to provide milk and meat to our population, for the needs of the Armed Forces and hospitals, help rebuild destroyed roads and bridges, and have not delayed salaries to our employees even during the occupation. However, waiting for the liberation, it will be unrealistic for us to resume the farm's work without urgent humanitarian demining of the fields. According to preliminary estimates, more than 3000 hectares of land we cultivate have been contaminated with shells and mines. To grow fodder and keep the herd, we need to clear at least 1000 hectares. But with the current tariffs from commercial companies, we have no chance. If we don't find a humanitarian solution, we will have to sell the cattle we managed to save during the fighting for meat."

The World Bank estimates that the full range of humanitarian demining activities will cost about $37.4 billion. According to preliminary estimates, USD 1.5 billion is needed for the priority needs of surveying and prioritizing the demining of agricultural land alone.

"At all possible information platforms, at all official meetings with world leaders and fellow farmers, our association calls on partners to actively cooperate. After all, humanitarian demining will help bring life back to the de-occupied territories and allow us to implement other reconstruction projects, including critical and transport infrastructure, and most importantly, it will save the lives of people who have been under enemy fire for 425 days in a row," said Andriy Dykun, head of the Ukrainian Agri Council and SaveUA charity fund.