Ukraine has significant potential to expand processing not only in grains, oilseeds and industrial crops, but also in the fruit, berry and vegetable sector. This segment could provide the country with additional competitive advantages and create higher added value, EastFruit reports, citing SEEDS.
This was emphasized by Taras Bashtannyk, President of the Ukrainian Horticulture Association (UHA), during the conference “PROFITABLE AGRIBUSINESS 2026: Strategies. Innovations. Investments”, organized by Sapienza.media together with UPOA and sectoral associations.
According to Taras Bashtannyk, Ukraine needs to focus more actively on developing processing specifically in the fruit and vegetable sector, as this area offers additional opportunities for the growth of agribusiness.
“Ukraine needs to move not only towards processing grain, oilseed and industrial crops, but also to expand the fruit, berry and vegetable sector alongside processing, because it also offers enormous advantages in other ways,” he said.
Among Ukraine’s key advantages for the development of fruit and vegetable production and processing, the expert highlighted the country’s logistical potential, its diversity of soil and climatic zones, and the availability of water resources in most regions.
“If we remove the war factor, logistics is an advantage. At present, we do have serious problems, but sooner or later, and possibly even quite soon, they will end. Another advantage is the diversity of our soil and climatic zones. It is possible to find a relatively ideal balance of soil and climate for growing a particular crop,” the UPOA President explained.
At the same time, he stressed that access to water remains critically important for intensive production. Ukraine still has sufficient water resources in many regions, but the problems related to reservoirs, dams and canals require systematic restoration, especially against the backdrop of climate change.
“Today, nothing is possible without water, as we can already see the climate is changing,” Taras Bashtannyk stressed.
At the same time, Ukraine also faces a number of objective limitations. In particular, in terms of climate, it lags behind countries in North Africa and South America, where produce can be grown virtually year-round. In addition, Ukrainian producers often fall behind international competitors in terms of yields per hectare for many crops.
Another serious challenge for the sector is the high cost of financial resources.
“It is difficult for businesses to access loans, refinance or develop — that is a fact, and it is something we still need to work on,” he noted.
Against this backdrop, state support for berry production, horticulture and vegetable growing becomes especially important. According to Taras Bashtannyk, without such support instruments, the sector would not have developed at its current pace during the war years.
“It seems to me that without state support, the berry and fruit and vegetable sector would not have developed nearly as much as it has during the war,” the UPOA President said.
He reminded the audience that the state support programme has been operating for five years and includes three main areas. In particular, under the “orchard grant” programme, the state provides up to UAH 400,000 per hectare, subject to co-financing by the producer at a level of 50%.
According to Taras Bashtannyk, the state budget for 2026 allocates UAH 235 million for the orchard grant programme, UAH 230 million for the greenhouse grant programme, and another UAH 220 million for a new programme supporting the construction of vegetable and fruit storage facilities. The maximum grant amount under this scheme may reach UAH 20 million per project.
“This is an entirely new programme. It will start operating in March, and producers will be able to apply and participate,” he said.
In addition to financial pressures, Ukrainian producers will increasingly face the impact of climate change and labour shortages in the coming years. This concerns both unskilled labour and the shortage of qualified professionals.
In the opinion of the UPOA President, this will primarily constrain those segments where the share of manual labour remains high. Under such circumstances, producers will either have to invest more actively in mechanisation or switch to crops that require less manual labour. Another possible solution could be to attract foreign workers, as is already common practice in many other countries.
“Ukraine will face the need to make extraordinary efforts to bring people back, and this will not happen quickly. Otherwise, like many other countries, it may even have to attract foreign labour resources. Or producers will have to focus only on those crops that can be mechanised to a greater extent,” Taras Bashtannyk said.
Thus, the development of the fruit, berry and vegetable sector, as well as its processing segment, could become one of the most promising areas for Ukrainian agribusiness. This is not only about increasing production volumes, but also about creating higher added value, improving competitiveness and making more efficient use of the country’s natural and economic potential.
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