Losses of Kherson region farmers from drought exceed UAH 1 bln - Ukrainian Agri Council
The Ukrainian Agri Council appealed to the Prime Minister and Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine with a request to immediately provide state support to farms in Kherson region, which suffered losses due to drought and lost more than 55,000 hectares of crops, the press service reported.
The association emphasized that farmers in Beryslav district of Kherson region, who have been working under the constant threat of occupation, shelling and mining for three years in a row, have encountered a record drought.
"Today, a crisis of unprecedented scale has arisen. Agricultural producers in Kherson region have faced the consequences of a catastrophic drought (agriculturalists do not remember such a drought in all the years of Ukraine's independence), caused by a sharp climate change after the destruction of the Kakhovka reservoir, abnormally high temperatures in March, almost complete absence of precipitation in the spring, late April frosts," the appeal states.
According to preliminary estimates, more than 55,000 hectares of crops have been destroyed in the region, and direct losses have already exceeded UAH 1 billion. The current situation threatens the economic and social stability of the region.
"In many farms, the seed base has been completely destroyed, there is nothing to sow in the fall, some enterprises are already on the verge of bankruptcy and without state support will lead to their complete bankruptcy and loss of jobs. This will have terrible consequences for Kherson region, since the impossibility of conducting agriculture will lead to the depopulation of this area, as unfit for life, which will significantly complicate the performance of the tasks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to protect it from Russian aggression," the business association emphasized.
The council called on the government to immediately provide state support to farms in Kherson region in order to save them.