Agricultural sector in occupied territories almost destroyed

"The agricultural sector in the occupied territories has been almost destroyed. Unfortunately, the terrorists are not capable of peaceful farming. The ATO [Anti-Terrorist Operation] zone and Crimea may face serious food shortages," the minister said.

In particular, more than a half of fertile lands in the occupied territories of Donbas was not sown in this sowing season, according to the minister.

"According to our data, such things have happened for the first time ever in the history of agriculture in this region. Even in the post-war 1944-45's, they [the lands] were sown more actively than during the Russian occupation," Pavlenko said.

In the 1.5-year rule of Russian occupiers, Crimea has lost almost all of its agricultural potential grown by Ukrainian farmers for decades, the minister said. In particular, North-Crimean Canal infrastructure has been practically destroyed, causing serious damage to the rice sector.

"We estimate an aggregate negative impact due to the lack of irrigation at 350,000-400,000 tonnes of grain – these are the losses. The number of livestock in Crimea has shrunk by more than 50%," Pavlenko said.

Such developments have undermined Crimea's self-sufficiency in food, and this issue will be even more urgent with the approach of winter.

As reported earlier, Pavlenko announced that the farmers in the occupied territories of Crimea and eastern Ukraine suffered significant losses due to reduced seeding. At the same time, he noted, this will not exert a significant negative impact on the gross harvest in Ukraine as the crop area in the occupied territories is insignificant in relation to the country's total area. According to the ministry, Ukrainian authorities lost control over 683,000 hectares of acreage in Donbas, which accounts for 2.6% of Ukraine's total crop areas.