The 2023 harvest may be a quarter smaller than this year's

In an interview with the Interfax-Ukraine agency, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal expressed the opinion that next year in the controlled territories the Government expects to harvest 70-75% of the 2022 figures.

The head of the Government noted that 4.8 million hectares of winter cereals were sown this year in the controlled territories. This indicator is approximately 40% less than last year.

«‎We expect that more spring crops will be sown in the spring to compensate. But it is clear that the heavy landmines, the factor of uncertainty and the constant attacks of the enemy will affect the quantitative indicators of our harvest next year. This is a problem that will have to be solved», said Denys Shmyhal.

The Government is currently working on attracting international support, which should have a positive impact on next year's gross harvest. In addition, in 2022, farmers received portfolio guarantees for loans worth almost UAH 24 billion, and UAH 81.2 billion of credit funds were provided under the «5-7-9» program.

«We will continue to support the agricultural sector, but our resources are limited. Therefore, we are negotiating support from the EU, the USA, and the FAO. Many such agreements have already been reached, in particular with the European Commission, USAID, they are ready to finance both grant programs to support agricultural producers and credit programs», says the head of the Government.

Denys Shmyhal also emphasized the importance of the continuation of the Istanbul Grain Agreements, as the sea export of agricultural products enables Ukrainian farmers and agrarians to survive. In addition, according to him, the supply of agricultural products from Ukraine guarantees the stability of the geopolitical situation in Africa and the Middle East, since Ukrainian grain is a key factor in preventing famine for many countries.

We will remind that as of last week, harvesting of grain and leguminous crops was carried out on an area of 10.1 million hectares (90%) with a yield of 4.64 tons per hectare, 46.6 million tons of grain were threshed.