Farmers in Ukraine's southern regions, particularly Kherson Oblast, are suffering catastrophic losses not only due to the war but also prolonged drought. This was stated by Denys Marchuk, Deputy Head of the Ukrainian Agrari Council, during the "Yedyni Novyny" telethon.
The situation in the liberated areas of Kherson Oblast remains critical: due to the drought, crop losses have already been recorded on an area exceeding 55,000 hectares, which in monetary terms exceeds 1 billion UAH.
"The drought has hit the de-occupied territories of Kherson Oblast and adjacent areas of Mykolaiv Oblast the hardest. A similar situation is observed in the eastern regions of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. Farmers there lack even basic resources for farming. In essence, the sowing campaign was conducted using borrowed funds, and the current drought will only deepen their financial losses," emphasized Denys Marchuk.
The Association of Milk Producers, along with 20 other agricultural associations, has appealed to the government with a demand to urgently provide support for such farms – specifically, in the form of payments per hectare.
The Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food, in response to the collective appeal, noted that the state budget for 2025 does not provide funds for compensating crop losses due to extreme weather conditions. Instead, farmers have access to the preferential lending program "5-7-9%", which also applies to businesses in frontline territories.
Alongside this, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy emphasizes the necessity of crop insurance as a key risk management tool, especially for weather-related risks that cause significant damage every year.
However, another problem for farmers is that agricultural insurance is not operational during martial law, and insurance companies do not cover war-related risks.
"It is very important that the state budget for 2026 includes a state program for insuring agricultural risks – especially for frontline territories, where agribusiness remains the most vulnerable," underlined the Deputy Head of the UAC.
As a reminder, more than twenty leading agricultural associations, including the Association of Milk Producers, appealed to Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal with an open letter, stating the critical situation in agriculture due to anomalous drought, spring frosts, and restrictions imposed by the European Union on Ukrainian agricultural exports.
Press Service of the Association of Milk Producers
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