According to the Ukrainian Agri Council, the nation’s farmers are set to lose around €800 million per year due to the ongoing war. The UAC said that the Russian invasion has meant that farmers in Ukraine have not just lost land and crops, but also the ability to export produce and earn income. The group estimates that the country’s grain harvest is down by 40%, vegetables by 25% and fruit by 10%.
The UAC also said that minefields in Ukraine are now estimated to cover around 250,000 km2. “This exceeds the size of the Korean Peninsula, Laos, Romania and the UK,” it said. Currently, 8 million hectares of fields are thought to be mined, of which 6 million are located in Russian-occupied territories and another 2 million in the liberated areas.
UAC said that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has also caused at least $60 billion worth of damage to nature. Ukraine will lose about 2 million tons of agricultural production annually. In monetary terms, this is $1.5 billion annually.
Due to the occupation of the territories and hostilities in the frontline regions, the largest losses, 75–80%, were incurred in the regions of Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Luhansk. Farmers not only from the areas under constant shelling or occupation but also from other regions lost money because there is no point in harvesting if it cannot be exported or sold.
Source: agriland.ie