Food security in Ukraine: An overview of farmers' plans for 2024

Amidst the war and economic difficulties facing Ukraine, one of the most important things to do is to ensure the country's food security. Farmers play a key role in this process by growing grain and other winter crops. According to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food, despite the war and uncertainty over grain exports, most Ukrainian farmers do not plan to significantly change their winter crop acreage compared to last season.

According to the survey, almost half of the farmers (45%) do not intend to significantly reduce their winter crops, while 38% intend to increase them. Some farmers (14%) do not plan to plant winter crops at all. These figures reflect a common practice in Ukraine, where up to 20% of farmers do not plant winter crops each year.

The structure of winter crops may also change. Agricultural enterprises plan to reduce the area under wheat and barley, but increase the area under winter rape. According to forecasts, the total area under winter crops may increase by 0.5 million hectares or 8% compared to last season, the main reason for this is the increase in the area under winter rapeseed, which may grow by almost 40% to a record 1.9 million hectares.

Taras Vysotsky, First Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy, explained that the increase in oilseeds, such as soybeans, sunflower and rapeseed, is primarily due to logistical problems. This trend is also observed in farmers' plans for the next season.

However, the main challenges for the sowing campaign remain the lack of financial resources and low liquidity of the agricultural sector. Unfortunately, uncertainty about market prospects also remains a serious problem for most producers.

Regarding fertilizer use, the survey showed that this remains one of the most sensitive topics for farmers. Large and medium-sized producers are ready to apply fertilizers in full, but overall, the level of fertilizer application remains below half of the need (47%). As for plant protection, the level of use of plant protection products is projected to be 56% of the need.

As for the availability of fuel and seeds, major producers believe that their needs for these resources are higher, estimating the level of fuel availability at 53% on average, and seeds at 60%.

Ukraine is currently in the midst of a harvest season, and farmers have already harvested over 28 million tons of grain. Odesa region remains the leader in grain harvesting. Despite all the difficulties, Ukrainian farmers continue to do important work to provide the nation with food.