Farmers in temporarily occupied territories forced to destroy vegetable harvest

Farmers in temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine are forced to destroy part of their vegetable harvest due to problems with sales, logistics and lack of infrastructure for storing products.

The key problem for farmers has become disruptions in transportation. Trucks with vegetables heading towards temporarily occupied Crimea can be idle at checkpoints for up to three days. For fresh produce, this means loss of presentation and spoilage during transportation.

The situation is additionally worsened by the high cost of logistics. In a number of cases, transportation costs exceed the potential revenue from the sale of vegetables, which makes selling products economically unprofitable.

Problems with sales are exacerbated by the lack of infrastructure: lack of vegetable storage facilities; lack of refrigeration capacity; lack of product processing.

Because of this, farmers cannot store surplus crops until the market stabilizes or redirect products to alternative sales channels.

At the same time, the surplus of vegetables from producers has not led to a decrease in the price of products for the population. Due to complex logistics, the work of intermediaries and the general destabilization of the market, retail prices remain high, which further puts pressure on consumers in conditions of low purchasing power.

A separate factor of pressure has been the supply of cheaper vegetables from Russia, which worsens the competitive position of local farmers and increases the risks of production reduction.

Against the background of accumulated losses, farmers are faced with uncertainty about the next sowing campaign. In the event of further deterioration of the situation, the restoration of the agricultural sector and logistics chains after de-occupation may require significant resources and time.

As a result, the agricultural sector in the occupied territories is increasingly losing economic sustainability due to the disruption of logistics, problems with sales and limited access to infrastructure.