In its address to Roman Leshchenko, minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, the UAC named urgent sectors of the agricultural sector for investment.
Increasing the number of granaries
These harvests have brought Ukraine the largest grain harvest in its history. New granaries are an acute issue because without them there is a risk of losing part of the crop. According to UAC specialists, the preliminary amount for the construction of functional granaries is $264.650 mln.
"This year it is expected to produce 110.9 million tons of grain, and its exports will amount to 70.1 million tons, which should provide more than $20 billion in foreign exchange earnings to Ukraine. At the same time, there are only about 1,200 elevators in Ukraine that can store 53 million tons of grain. The existing grain transportation capacity also does not meet the needs of today and is not expected to increase rapidly. Thus, a shortage of grain transportation capacity of up to 700,000 tons per month is expected. The current situation is extremely threatening and may lead to a halt in further growth of grain production due to the impossibility of its full storage," the UAC said in an appeal to the minister of agrarian policy.
Irrigation systems
Since 1990, the total area of agricultural land has decreased by 70%. For the restoration of irrigation systems, 1 hectare of land requires $2-3.5 thousand.
"Subject to the provision of state support for the construction and reconstruction of pumping stations, water intakes, and water control structures with storage pools in the amount of 50%, it will be necessary $1.2-1.7 thousand. state support per 1 ha of agricultural land. Given that next year only in the Odesa region, it is planned to resume irrigation on an area of about 100 thousand hectares, the minimum amount needed to finance this area in 2022 is at least $113.5 mln," said in a statement.
Vegetable growing
In 2021, the state did not allocate money for growing vegetables. First of all, the vegetable sector needs to switch to new energy-efficient energy sources: modernization of greenhouse heating systems and lighting systems. According to UAC experts, today the amount of necessary investments in Ukrainian vegetables is over $3.2 mln.
Livestock
"Today, all the prerequisites for the emergence of a critical situation in animal husbandry, which will not be able to survive without state support. It is, first of all, about the need to reimburse the cost of breeding animals purchased for further reproduction, as well as a special budget subsidy for the increase in the number of cows of own reproduction."
Gardening
“According to UAC members, 1 hectare of modern gardens yields about $37.8 thousand and creates 2 jobs without taking into account those employed in processing. This makes horticulture one of the most promising areas of agricultural production in terms of employment and increasing the value-added of the agri-lands in Ukraine.
Agricultural insurance
"About 22 million hectares of land are legally cultivated in Ukraine, and 37% of agricultural land is arid. The potential area of crops to be insured is about 8 million hectares. Therefore, for the full launch of the subsidized agricultural insurance market in 2022, it is necessary to provide at least $24.6 mln. state support funds for partial compensation of the cost of the insurance rate for crop insurance. These funds will be enough to cover about 1.5 million hectares of agricultural crops, ie about 20% of the arid agricultural lands of Ukraine."
Purchase of agricultural machinery and equipment
In 2020, a program of partial compensation for the cost of agricultural machinery of domestic production was launched. In the same year, $37,2 mln out of $37.8 mln was used, which testifies to the effectiveness and necessity of this program. 7,260 farmers received assistance for the purchase of 14,946 units of agricultural machinery. UAC draws the attention of the head of the Ministry of agrarian policy to maintaining the trend of allocating public funds to support the purchase of agricultural machinery.
