Ukraine annually loses about $ 1.5 billion for a low level of irrigation of agricultural land

Опубликовано bashun - 30-11-2017 - 12:13

Ukraine annually loses about $ 1.5 billion of foreign exchange earnings due to the low level of development of irrigation systems for arable land

This was reported by the analyst for the agricultural business of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Vasyl Hovhera.

He noted that in Ukraine less than 1% of arable land is irrigated, whereas, for example, in the USA it is 5.5%, in France - about 5% of arable land.

"What does the absence of irrigation mean for Ukraine? There is a simple economic indicator - how much gross output we do not produce because of the lack of irrigation in our country. Today, this can be roughly estimated at 10 million tons of grain, which means about 1.5 billion dollars in revenue that we lose annually. This is 1.5 billion dollars of annual foreign exchange earnings in the economy of our country, " says Vasyl Hovhera. 

According to him, to realize the full potential of irrigation in Ukraine (expanding irrigation for 1.5-2 million hectares of land), it is necessary to invest $ 2-4 billion. Vasyl Hovhera also noted that today there are three main factors that hamper business investment in irrigation: access to efficient financing, uncertainty with the land issue, difficulties with physical access to water.

It bears reminding that the Ukrainian agribusiness is most invested in the development of livestock, the smallest - in irrigation.
 

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