Ukraine’s First Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Taras Vysotskyi says that due to the Russian invasion, the country’s agricultural sector suffered “colossal losses,” including a reduction of cultivated areas by about 25%, a decline in production, a drop in exports, expensive logistics, and more.
“Speaking about the sowing campaign, at the moment we cannot use approximately 25% of [Ukraine’s sown] areas due to hostilities or temporary occupation of the territories. After de-occupation, it will take a lot of time to demine and clean the territories. What the occupier leaves behind needs at least several months, and even up to a year, to return to production. Another part of the area could not be sown due to unfavorable weather conditions. So, in the spring, we need to cover the deficit of unsown winter crops,” Taras Vysotskyi said at an extended meeting of the Anti-Crisis Headquarters of the Board of the Ukrainian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs on 27 January.
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