KYIV: An unexploded rocket lies in the corner of a field, another in the middle of a farm compound, where workers found a cluster bomb while weeding. There is a gap in the roof of the stable… This is the current state of one of the fields in Ukraine, where the sunflower market used to be. The Russian invasion dealt a heavy blow to the country’s agricultural sector.
Farms, crops, livestock, machinery and storage facilities were damaged. Transportation and exports were severely disrupted. Ukraine used to export grain and sunflower oil at reasonable prices to countries in Africa and Asia. Agriculture is a critical part of Ukraine’s economy.
According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, agriculture accounted for 20 percent of pre-war gross national product and 40 percent of export earnings. Farmers are in despair as they cannot sow and harvest in the pit-filled land.
The strategic city of Issyum, which was captured by Russian forces in April and retaken by Ukraine in September, has been repeatedly rained down by rockets on livestock barns in the eastern Donetsk region. Agricultural farms with hundreds of workers became like haunted houses. As there is no other option, many farmers are still working under the noise of helicopters and warplanes.
Hopes are blooming in the unsown field. The war will end. They still think that the sunflowers will sprout again… the sun-dried wheat will sprout again and the valleys will turn green.