By KYIV. May 4 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The pumping station of the Kiliya irrigation system has begun supplying water to flood 400 hectares of rice paddy fields in Odesa region, which is five times less than in 2022, the State Agency of Land Reclamation and Fisheries of Ukraine said.
According to the press service of the department, due to difficult conditions at the beginning of the irrigation season associated with military operations in southern Ukraine, 20% of the area available for rice cultivation in Odesa region will be used for rice cultivation.
Water supply will continue throughout the growing season, which lasts until the full maturation of the crop – September. In autumn, when the rice is ripe, the water will be drained and the harvest will be collected. The irrigated rate for growing rice in southern Ukraine is 21,000-27,000 cubic meters per hectare, of which transpiration is 5,000 cubic meters per hectare.
Earlier, Fitch Solutions analysts indicated that in the current agricultural year, the global shortage of rice could be 8.7 million tonnes. This is the most significant deficit in the last 20 years – since the 2003/2004 agricultural year, when it reached 18.6 million tonnes.
