According to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, vegetable harvest in Ukraine reached nearly 29 million tons. The sufficiency for the next season hinges on storage conditions.
Ukraine currently experiences no vegetable shortages; however, challenges may arise in their storage, warns Dmytro Solomchuk, a member of the parliamentary committee on agrarian and land policy. He emphasized, that the availability of vegetables in the Ukrainian market for the upcoming harvest season depends on storage conditions. Despite building around 15 additional storage facilities this year, he notes a shortfall of at least 150-170 more to adequately store the produce cultivated by farmers.
In 2023, Ukrainian farmers harvested almost 29 million tons of vegetables, with potatoes comprising the majority at 21.2 million tons. Other vegetable production includes tomatoes (1.4 million tons), cabbage (1.3 million tons), onions (877,000 tons), carrots (810,000 tons), beets (766,000 tons), cucumbers (681,000 tons), and miscellaneous vegetables (1.3 million tons).
The Ministry of Agrarian Policy anticipates that a grant support program for Ukrainian farmers will prevent a sharp seasonal spike in vegetable prices next spring. Taras Vysotskyi, the first deputy minister, explains that Ukraine previously imported many early vegetables, and their prices were subject to exchange rates and logistic risks.
With the grant program, the fresh produce next spring will be less reliant on crossing borders, bringing it closer to consumers and influencing a reduction in the average price of greenhouse vegetables.
source: biz.liga.net