The following overview of agriculture in Ukraine is taken from the USDA.
Ukraine agriculture has been evolving since it achieved independence in 1991, following the breakup of the Soviet Union. State and collective farms were officially dismantled in 2000. Farm property was divided among the farm workers in the form of land shares and most new shareholders leased their land back to newly-formed private agricultural associations.
The sudden loss of State agricultural subsidies had an enormous effect on every aspect of Ukrainian agriculture. The contraction in livestock inventories that had begun in the late 1980's continued and intensified. Fertilizer use fell by 85 percent over a ten-year period, and grain production by 50 percent. Farms were forced to cope with fleets of aging, inefficient machinery because no funds were available for capital investment. At the same time, however, the emergence from the Soviet-style command economy enabled farmers to make increasingly market-based decisions regarding crop selection and management, which contributed to increased efficiency in both the livestock and crop-production sectors. Difficulty in obtaining credit, especially large, long-term loans, remains a significant problem for many farms.
Of Ukraine's total land area of 60 million hectares, roughly 42 million is classified as agricultural land, which includes cultivated land. Wheat is grown throughout the country, but central and south-central Ukraine are the key production zones. Wheat yield declined during the 1990's following the breakup of the Soviet Union and the loss of heavy State subsidies for agriculture. Farms struggled with cash shortages, and the use of fertilizer and plant-protection chemicals plummeted. Due to a combination of favourable weather and a modest but steady improvement in the financial condition of many farms, wheat production has rebounded in recent years.
Most farms are able to receive credit, but interest rates and collateral demands are high. Farms' difficulty in obtaining anything other than short-term, high-interest loans places severe constraints on their ability to invest in long-term capital improvements, such as agricultural machinery or storage facilities. In many cases, the best option is for a farm to attract an investor who can provide market expertise, operating capital, and collateral to enable the farm to secure loans.
Growth Green Agriculture Plc is a UK based agricultural investments company specialising in emerging markets offering unique opportunities to invest in Ghana. GGAgriculture acts as consultant on green and socially responsible investments to the private and institutional investor community in Europe. http://ggagriculture.com/
