Because of the hostilities and their consequences, a large portion of Ukraine’s agricultural land will be unfit for cultivation for many years. This will result in fewer cultivated areas in the country.
“It is currently difficult to give an exact figure for how much land will become temporarily unsuitable for cultivation. Furthermore, we have no idea what is going on in the occupied territories. However, many fields are contaminated with unexploded ordnance or have been mined. We also have physical damage to the fertile soil layer from artillery fire and missile strikes, as well as damage to the soil from various types of military equipment. And it will take years to reverse this, according to Roman Makukhin, an National Interests Advocacy Network “ANTS” expert on agrarian issues. Heavy metals are released into the environment by ammunition fragments, which reach groundwater. Such areas are inaccessible for processing”.
And this isn’t just about irreversible environmental damage in Ukraine.
“This has an impact on food security as well. Because agricultural crops cannot be grown in such areas. Farmers are being forced to reduce the amount of cultivated land as a result of this. As a result, the economic losses are enormous, because farmers will not receive income as a result of the withdrawal of land from economic circulation. Furthermore, demining and land restoration take a long time and cost a lot of money.”
“They are actually losing money on their rental. The majority of farmers rent land from sharecroppers or communities. Landowners’ long-term losses should be included in the list of demands for future compensation in both cases,”- according to the expert.
