The year 2023 was very challenging for Ukrainian berry farmers. However, overall, berry farming in Ukraine is expanding, although the dynamics in terms of areas have slightly decreased. Many grant programs contribute to this development.
Taras Bashtannik, the president of the Ukrainian Fruit and Vegetable Association (UFVA), shared this information in an interview with SEEDS.
– The year 2023 has passed, it was a challenging year. Could you name at least the top three events of 2023 that had the most impact on the development of the fruit and vegetable business in Ukraine?
– The war is the first and most important factor. The second is the border blockade, but it can be attributed to the first. These are the two main negative events of the past year, in my opinion.
But there is also a positive one – grant programs. They started operating in the fall of 2022, but they can be considered important factors for 2023 since they significantly influenced the development of berry farming in Ukraine.
In general, berry farming in Ukraine is expanding. Areas are increasing. Perhaps the dynamics are slightly lower in terms of areas, but it is necessary to take into account that we, hopefully temporarily, lost some territories where areas were also expanding, particularly in southern Ukraine.
Perhaps processing, it is really difficult to name any plants over the past year, but as for plantations, everything is developing normally.
– You mentioned grants; which programs specifically help our berry farmers?
– As far as I know, these are foreign funds, but the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food is the administrator. Everything happens quite quickly and transparently – you simply submit an application for what you want to plant. And if earlier compensation was provided for actual expenses, now they advance you these funds, and you have a year and a half, 18 months, to implement this project according to the grant. This program is still active and will continue to operate next year. It applies not only to berry and fruit crops but also to nuts.
– How is the current situation at the border with berries and fruit crops? They all spoil quite quickly.
– Firstly, it’s the middle of winter now, so it’s impossible to talk about fresh berries being exported now – where would they come from? Frozen berries are exported. Of course, apples are also exported. But apples are not berries; they store well. It is unpleasant, of course, to stand in line at the border for 4-5 days, but exports are still happening.
– Did the problems with border blockages significantly affect the export of fruit and vegetable products, especially in terms of quantity?
– They did not affect the fact that something spoils on the way. They rather affected the fact that logistics became very expensive due to queues, and this, of course, reduced the economy. The cost of transportation has become more expensive.