Kyiv | Reuters — Ukraine’s agricultural sector could take 20 years or more in parts to recover from the ravages of Russia’s full-scale invasion, according to a Kyiv-based research centre.
Ukraine is a major global grower and exporter of wheat, corn, sunflower and sunflower oil, but its production has fallen sharply since the war start in February 2022.
“According to the modelling results, some of the sectors will not reach the pre-war levels even after seven years of peace,” Kyiv School of Economics said in a report.
It said the sunflower, barley and wheat sectors were expected to recover by 2040, while the maize, rye, oats and rapeseed sectors were expected to recover by 2050.
“This means that it may take as long as 20 years for Ukraine to regain its strength in agriculture after the devastation brought by the Russian military assault,” it said.
Ukraine harvested 106 million tonnes of grain and oilseed in 2021 before the invasion, but output could decrease to around 65 million tonnes in 2023, the agriculture ministry has said.
— Reporting for Reuters by Pavel Polityuk.
