By KYIV. Nov 14 (Interfax-Ukraine) – There are no reasons for concern due to the threat to internal food security, despite the fact that 20% of agricultural land compared to pre-war 2021 is still not available for cultivation, assured First Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Taras Vysotsky.
“Unfortunately, at present, part of the land is under temporary occupation, so the reduction (in food production) is due to the fact that about 20% of the land, compared to 2021, is still not available for cultivation. However, there are no reasons for concern. There is no threat to domestic food security,” he said.
Vysotsky noted that domestic consumption of grains and oilseeds, as well as processed products, amounts to a maximum of 20-25 million tonnes per year. In 2023, according to his information, farmers grew about 80 million tonnes of grains and oilseeds, which is more than three times the country’s needs. Accordingly, quite large volumes of products will be exported.
Answering a question about the differences in the work of farmers in 2022 and 2023, Vysotsky stated that more challenges had been added.
“The big challenge was internal logistics and the temporary occupation of the territories of Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy regions. There were difficulties in moving goods within the country due to checkpoints and other objective factors. This year, a challenge such as mining was added – after all, deoccupation took place in Kherson and Kharkiv regions. In fact, this is one of the main challenges compared to 2022,” the deputy minister explained and recalled that more than 500 million hectares of land need to be demined in Ukraine.
Vysotsky noted that the mine clearance process is very expensive and time-consuming. However, for sappers, demining agricultural land is a priority task.
“Ukraine is one of the most mined countries in the world. However, there are positive developments in this direction. If you look at the plans for priority humanitarian demining of farmland, it should be noted that 40% of them were returned to work this year. Taking into account all the circumstances – this is a very good and large figure,” he emphasized and expressed hope that the pace of humanitarian demining and the return to cultivation of farmland will be maintained.
