“For farmers, 2024 was a year of stability and even production records. Despite the military operations and labor shortage, agricultural enterprises harvested about 75 million tons of grain and oil crops, provided the country with a record foreign currency income. 2025 will be no less difficult for the industry, especially in the frontline regions, despite the fact that the state has provided more than UAH 6 billion to support the agricultural sector.”, — write on: ua.news
For farmers, 2024 was a year of stability and even production records. Despite the military operations and labor shortage, agricultural enterprises harvested about 75 million tons of grain and oil crops, provided the country with a record foreign currency income.
2025 will be no less difficult for the industry, especially in the frontline regions, despite the fact that the state has provided more than UAH 6 billion to support the agricultural sector. Animal husbandry and agro-processing, demining of agricultural land and land reclamation will require the most support.
Vitaly Koval, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, spoke about the results of last year and strategic tasks for 2025 on the sidelines of the GET Business Festival in an interview for UA.News.
How did the agricultural sector end 2024? In which directions was there a decrease in indicators, and in which directions was there an increase?
Vitaly Koval: First of all, I will say that in 2024, farmers sowed 19.8 million hectares, and the harvest was harvested from them. Ukraine’s food security is guaranteed. We also have products for export. In general, November was a record for exports.
In total, in 2024, we received about $24.5 billion in foreign exchange revenue from the sale of agricultural products abroad. This is the second historical indicator of Ukraine for all time. We had more only in 2021 – $27.5 billion.
In general, we had an interesting year. We got even better results than we expected. For example, for the first time, our farmers grew more than 6 million tons of soybeans! This is also a historical record for Ukraine.
As you can see, farmers choose crop rotation with respect to the protein group of crops, taking into account the market situation. That is, for such products as soybeans, peas, and beans, today we see an excess of demand over supply. That is why we work with these products, we have great advantages in this direction.
The sugar industry was also pleased. We ended 2024 with a 25-year historical record of export volumes. Our enterprises exported 700,000 tons of sugar. The last such indicator was in 2000. This is also a big plus for the agricultural industry.
It is clear that the year did not pass without upheavals and problems. First of all, these are problems with energy, a significant shortage of personnel. We must respond to these challenges now. In particular, we are already creating an employee retraining program. Because the agricultural industry depends on workers. And we need to train and retrain these hands.
Can you specify in numbers what kind of personnel shortage we are talking about and how exactly it affects the industry?
Vitaly Koval: Today, 200,000 are targeted. farmers are fighting at the front. And it must be understood that they did not join the Armed Forces from an empty workplace in the agricultural sector. They left the tractor, combine harvester. Therefore, they need to be replaced by qualified specialists. And the training of a tractor driver is not months, but years. The same – with combine harvesters. Therefore, we face a difficult task. We can already see the tendency of women replacing typical male professions.
The lack of personnel also leads to the intensification of production, the purchase of the latest equipment in order to reduce the amount of manual labor with technical mechanisms.
Another challenge of wartime is demining of agricultural land, how fast is this process progressing?
Vitaly Koval: The process is ongoing. Ukraine has signed the Mine Action Strategy until 2033. The document provides for the annual allocation of resources for demining. There are certain successes. Thus, in 2024, 218,000 people were involved in the sowing campaign. ha, which were demined. And this is a big indicator, it is not just an ephemeral number, it is hectares that were sown again.
That is, additional planted areas are also one of the factors that affect the yield and export opportunities of the agricultural sector. And what other factors will be decisive for exports in 2025?
Vitaly Koval: Unfortunately, the biggest risk for export is logistical. On the positive side, we have returned to our historical export channels. 88% of our agricultural products are transported by sea: Odesa and Danube ports. This is already positive, that is, there is no such pressure on the land border, which was in 2022-2023.
Regarding exports, we have a strategy of opening new markets. We are interested in Southeast Asia. Together with the State Production and Consumer Service, we are now removing restrictions on Chinese markets. We are actively working to remove bureaucratic restrictions on some products. In particular, we are interested in the opening of the meat market so that we can export meat and peas. These are important directions for us.
And what will be done to increase the added value of Ukrainian agricultural products intended for export?
Vitaly Koval: It is very important to understand the causal relationship in agricultural production. Based on this, we have to develop the potential of the industry in a balanced way. It is necessary to develop not only crop production, but also animal production and deep processing.
Let me explain: if there is no animal husbandry, deep processing will not reveal its potential. For example, in the production of bioethanol there is a by-product – bard (high-value protein and vitamin-rich feed – ed.). This is the basis of fodder. If you don’t have livestock nearby, where will you sell this feed? Therefore, it is important to simultaneously develop animal husbandry and deep processing.
Regarding processing, we have to move to an export-oriented model of finished products. Not agricultural materials and raw materials. For example, to grow a ton of corn, we import almost 75% of the imported component: seeds, diesel, plant protection products, mineral fertilizers. We import all this. Then we grow corn, and we export this corn further. And if we process the corn, we export a more expensive product.
And yet, what specific steps will be taken in 2025 for the development of agro-processing?
Vitaly Koval: In 2025, we have provided financial support for this. All funds that will be involved in the state budget from the “Land Bank” project, lease payments, will go to the Special Fund to support agro-processing and animal husbandry. We among them will develop compensatory mechanisms for the payment of subsidies to those who will process products and to those who will develop animal husbandry.
And what about supporting farms, especially in the frontline areas?
Vitaly Koval: Support programs that exist today are in effect. In particular, the subsidy for the purchase of Ukrainian-made agricultural machinery has been preserved. The program “Affordable loans 5-7-9” is working and will continue to work. Subsidies are also paid per hectare of front-line territories.
It is very important to support front-line farms. There is also a program to support associations of water users, so that we can modernize the reclamation infrastructure, start the irrigation system. To support this reform, financing in the amount of UAH 200 million was allocated from the state budget. in addition, we attract funds from our international partners.
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