Even with a devastating war about to enter its seventh week, Ukraine is well on its way to reaping most of its vast grain fields this summer – although there are growing concerns that war-related supply shortages could reduce production by up to one third. The country also has 30 million tonnes of wheat in storage. “Last year was a record year for wheat production for the whole country,” said Dmytro Grushetskyi, an industrial farmer with nearly 30,000 acres of arable land near the central city of Uman, who also runs an agricultural data company that monitors crops in Ukraine, Russia and neighboring countries. “Ukraine is actually full of grain. “Our stocks are full.” “But now we can not get the grain,” he said, pointing to the problem that could lead to a huge rise in grain prices and worsen world hunger, which means that Ukrainian farmers and others people, it’s wrong. “ All Ukrainian Black Sea ports are closed to the world due to a Russian blockade involving floating mines. A warship destroyed by the Ukrainian navy to avoid capture is blocking access to grain warehouses in the country’s largest port of Odessa. And after 20 years of investing in infrastructure from farm to port, wheat exported by train is only a small fraction of what is exported by sea. With no export earnings, Ukraine’s giant industrial agro-economy is stagnating, threatening to bankrupt farmers and increasing the likelihood that the global grain market – and other dependent food supplies – will face an ever-worsening shortage even in the event of a shortage. the conflict ends soon. In Bucha, the extent of Russian barbarism comes to the fore David Beasley, executive director of the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), told the UN Security Council that food prices were already skyrocketing. One third of the world’s population relies on wheat as a food base. Anger over rising food prices has always been a major cause of civil unrest around the world. The negative effects of the war on energy and fertilizer supplies are already rippling through agricultural supply chains, raising the prices of basic commodities for almost everyone on the planet. Countries such as Egypt – the largest importer of Ukrainian wheat last year – as well as Lebanon, Pakistan and others, get most of their grain from Ukraine. The country produces about one-fifth of the world’s high-quality wheat and 7 percent of its total wheat. WFP buys half of its grain from Ukraine. Grushetskyi has been trapped in wheat warehouses worth more than $ 2 million and, like other farmers across the country, worried that without being able to sell any of it, he would not be able to pay workers, buy seeds, fuel and fertilizers. maintains equipment or pays outstanding bills, putting the future of his company at risk. A trader with whom he works in the port of Odessa, Oleksandr Chumak, has clearly stated the despair of the industry. “There is nothing to do but give the wheat to the army or as humanitarian aid. “Ukraine, fortunately, will not starve,” he said. “But if we are talking about global food security, this is already a fragile system. Climate change, supply chain chaos and now this war – in six months, poor people will starve to death. I do not think people have figured it out yet. “For their own good, the movement of food through the Black Sea must be negotiated.” For Ukrainian farmers, however, there are more immediate problems. It took just two hours on the first morning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for its forces to occupy the 55-square-mile Volodymyr Khvostov industrial-scale farms, which raise wheat, oilseed rape, sunflower and dairy products from the country’s highest yielding region. between the Crimean peninsula and the southern city of Hersonissos. Since the start of the war, the most productive rural areas of Ukraine have come under Russian control. Key canals that irrigate millions of acres have been damaged in battle. Diesel fueling tractors and other equipment is increasingly not available throughout the country, either because it was once supplied by Russia or because Russia has bombed local fuel storage facilities. The key moments in the agricultural calendar – fertilization, plowing and, soon, planting – are passing, while farmers are struggling to get basic supplies and while others are gone to fight. Farm workers are exempt from conscription, but many have joined the sense of duty. “We are still planning the harvest, even if it is difficult,” Khvostov said. “But if we do not defeat the Russians by then, it will not matter to the rest of the world.” Agricultural officials in Ukraine have expressed concern that while their country’s military appears to be preventing the Russian military from achieving its most ambitious goals, Russia could win a long-running war against Ukraine by crippling its rural economy. Latest updates from the Ukraine war A collapse of industrial agriculture would be catastrophic for Ukraine in almost every way imaginable. And because Russia is also one of the largest producers of grain in the world, it is going to win right where Ukraine is losing. “It’s a secret weapon in the war,” said Andrii Dykun, chairman of the Ukrainian Agricultural Council. “Make Ukraine bankrupt. Make the world buy from Russia. “Of course people will buy from them instead of starving.” Russia has already reduced wheat prices to make its product more attractive to the world market, although it has also threatened to restrict agricultural exports to countries it considers hostile to its invasion of Ukraine. Russian food exports have not yet been sanctioned by the West, and some of the largest U.S. agricultural companies, including Cargill, continue to operate in Russia.. “American and German companies are still operating in Russia, so while the US is ratifying Russia, they are financing them at the same time,” Dykun said. “The West will make us die slowly this way.” Because agriculture is such an integral part of Ukraine’s economy, farmers have been lionized by their fellow citizens, and their role is considered almost as important as that of soldiers. And many farmers have seen it as their duty to gather as much grain as possible, not only for the sake of their country but also for the sake of the world. “It’s half funny, but maybe the West should give us armored tractors,” said Bogdan Lukiyanchuk, a farmer, agronomist and host of Growex, a YouTube channel for Ukrainian farmers. At a rally at his home on the outskirts of Pervomaisk – north of the city of Mykolaiv, which has come under heavy Russian bombardment in recent weeks – Lukiyanchuk posed for a photo with an automatic rifle. “I’m sleeping with one. “I take others out to the fields with me just in case,” he said. “We have to keep as much of our land under our control as possible. “This fight is not just for Ukraine but for everyone.” Serhiy Morgunov contributed to this report.
