In a comment to the Danish LandbrugsAvisen, the UAC Chairman Andrii Dykun spoke about the situation with the sowing campaign in Ukraine.
 

Without diesel fuel and money for sowing, we will face a food crisis.

The war in Ukraine will not last long if the country wants to avoid a food crisis. Andriy Dykun, the Chairman of the Ukrainian Agri Council, which includes 1,100 agricultural enterprises with a land fund of 3.5 million hectares, believes so.

Currently, about half of the farms have suspended their activities.

"Not all of their workers were sent to war, but in many places farmers do not dare to go out into the field, as tanks drive nearby and war continues," he said.

Empty shelves

The banking system is out of the game, so farmers cannot buy seeds, fertilizers, etc. Moreover, they cannot get money for their grain.

"Farmers have sold grain to grain traders, who, in turn, cannot pay them, so farmers do not have funds to buy consumables for sowing," added Andrii Dykun.

He tells of cases when Russians appeared on farms, forcibly took away diesel fuel from farmers and destroyed machinery. 75 percent of Ukraine's diesel fuel came from Russia, but import is stopped now. 25 percent came to the country by sea - now these supplies have been stopped, so fuel is ending. As a result, field work will soon be stopped.

"We can't work on farms without funds, diesel and resources, and it will soon end as a food disaster," he said.

He is also surprised that FAO - the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations - is not outraged by the situation in Ukraine, but considers it is a political issue. However, according to the FAO, the organization has already sent humanitarian aid to support agricultural production in Ukraine.

Andrii Dykun has no doubts about what Ukrainian farmers are currently expecting from the West.

"Give us food, weapons and diesel," he said.