Ukraine's new vegetable belt. Which regions will hope to replace lost Kherson tomatoes

For the first time in Ukraine, more than a third of the fields are irrigated without the participation of the state. In 2023, 46,000 hectares were irrigated by farmers' associations, while the total area of irrigated fields is 134,000 hectares. Among the leaders is Cherkasy Oblast, where 13 water user organizations (WUO) have been created. It overtook Odesa and Mykolaiv oblasts, which were traditional leaders in reclamation.

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WUOs are precisely those associations of farmers who take on the exploitation at their own expense of the so-called "lower level" reclamation systems that are state-owned, communally owned or abandoned. What's more, since December 2023, the WUOs have started to take ownership of irrigation systems.

Almost dry irrigation

Russian aggression destroys land reclamation in Ukraine. In 2021, the area of irrigated land was 525,000 hectares. In 2023, due to the occupation and destruction of the Kakhovka Reservoir, only 134,000 hectares remained under irrigation.