Ukrainian farmers harvest bumper crops but see no revenues

PEREIASLAV-KHMELNYTSKY – The Pereiaslav district is the number-one grain supplier in Kyiv oblast. This year it produced a record-breaking harvest, with local agricultural enterprises reaping more than 200,000 tons of grain.

Unfortunately, there is little joy from the packed granaries because, once again, farmers have not earned sufficient revenues. There is a very difficult situation on the domestic market for agricultural producers, who have seen the prices of mineral fertilizers, fuel, and spare parts skyrocketing and grain prices slumping. At the beginning of the year one ton of sunflower seeds sold for 4,000 hryvnias. Now one ton costs 1,000 hryvnias.

Prices for corn and soybeans are also dropping, while prices for the main food crop – wheat – are fluctuating between 700 and 800 hryvnias a ton. In January, one ton of wheat cost 1,500 hryvnias.

Last year grain prices continued to rise after the harvesting campaign ended. Today it is the other way around: prices drop noticeably in the space of one week. Prices also depend on the region: in some oblasts they are even lower than those mentioned above.

On the eve of the corn harvest, a number of agricultural enterprises in Pereiaslav-Khmelnytsky raion are encountering problems not only in the sphere of sales, but also drying and storage issues. During a meeting of the district council members composed an open letter to President Yushchenko, the Verkhovna Rada, and the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. It reads that, unless the government takes immediate and effective measures that will fundamentally change the price-setting policy on the agrarian market, farmers will have to resort to decisive actions aimed at protecting their lawful interests.