The agricultural industry of the south of Ukraine will return to pre-war indicators in at least 8 years

The Deputy Chairman of the All-Ukrainian Agrarian Council, Denys Marchuk, emphasized on Ukrainian Radio that after the explosion of the Kakhovskaya HPP, farmers in the southern regions of Ukraine will be able to return to pre-war production levels in at least 8 years.

"Unfortunately, until the restoration of the HPP, it is impossible to talk about the possibility of returning to pre-war indicators. And then we count. According to the forecasts of engineers working in this area, it will take about 5 years to restore Kakhovskaya HPP with financing. We calculate that it will take another 2-3 years for farmers to reach pre-war indicators after deoccupation. In total, it will take 8 years to partially return to pre-war indicators," the expert explained.

According to him, farmers located on the left bank of the Kherson region will suffer the most. One thing, he noted, is that it is too early to talk about specific amounts of damage before the liberation of these territories.

"After the water recedes, there will be silt with a large amount of metals, which will enter the ground. Therefore, now no one is taking the initiative to draw conclusions about how much time we will need to restore the agricultural indicators that were in this part of Ukraine. We will be able to do agrochemical analyzes only after the deoccupation of the territories. We do not control the left part and do not know what the situation is there. As for the right bank, according to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, about 10,000 hectares of land have been flooded, which means that 100,000 tons of grain crops will be affected," added Denys Marchuk.