Ukrainian sunflower farmers sow seeds despite shelling in war-torn Zaporizhzhia region

Описание: Despite sound of explosion thundering the area in Ukraine’s southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, agriculture machine keeps driving towards the fields belonging to farmer Yurii Lupinos.

“There was an impact in the village nearby, it is just 500 meters away from us. Despite how scary it is, people keep working because we need means to live. I have to pay salary to my workers,” Lupinos, wearing flak jacket, told Reuters.

Lupinos said he is struggling to sell his goods at a reasonable price as the war disrupted logistical routes for exporting farm products, which is not the only reason.

“Price for fertilizers tripled, price for diesel rose, price for pesticides rose while price for agriculture goods dropped. It is difficult, but we are trying to find our way out of it.”

Ukraine has long been known as the breadbasket of Europe. Its fertile black soil, large expanse of flat plains and deep Black Sea ports enabled the country to become a major exporter of grain across the world.

Agricultural exports are vital to the economy, making up about 12% of gross domestic product before Russia's invasion and about 60% of all its exports, and are crucial to feeding some parts of the world including the Middle East and Africa.

But the invasion has upended much of that. Grain output is likely to have slumped to about 53 million tonnes in clean weight in the 2022 calendar year from a record 86 million in 2021. This year it could drop as low as 44.3 million.

Under a U.N.-brokered deal allowing the safe export of grain from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports that had been blocked after the invasion, Ukraine has been able to export 29.3 million tonnes of agricultural products including grains.

The deal will expire on May 18 and Ukraine, Russia, U.N .and Turkey hold talks in Istanbul in Thursday (May 11) to extend it beyond that date.

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