By KYIV. Dec 21 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The price of vegetables in 2022 amid the war and the temporary occupation of the Russian Federation of part of the territory of Ukraine reached record levels, so next year it is expected to increase the area under them and increase supply and a fall in price is projected, according to the website of the Ukrainian Horticultural Association on Tuesday.
"Vegetables will be cheaper. And I’m sure that next year half of Ukraine will be with carrots and onions. After all, it was these vegetables that broke their own price records in 2022. Prices for strawberries next year will be quite high, just like this year. But prices for blueberries will decrease. They will be no more than in 2022, or even lower. As for raspberries: prices will be the same as now. In general, the price of berries and fruits should be expected more or less the same as this year," the association quoted its president Taras Bashtannik.
Also, according to him, apple prices will remain high next year, and the price of blueberries will depend on the harvest.
The association said that the area planted under berries in 2022 did not decrease and did not increase significantly due to the lack of investment, even among large businesses and crop holdings, many of which have their own berry plantations.
"The pace of the growth in areas is 75-80% less than last year. And this is quite logical – the country is at war. Orchards and plantations are perennial plantations. These are not cereals that are sown for a year. In addition, few of the investors today have everything fine with business. A large number of grain companies plant berries, but the situation in the grain business today is very deplorable. What kind of investments can we talk about here at all?" the association said.
The association said that there will be no problems with seeds for growing fruits and vegetables in Ukraine, since the country annually consumes a specific amount of seed material. These figures will not change, although some of the seeds that were previously supplied to the temporarily occupied territories in southern Ukraine will now be sent to other regions.
