Scientists have calculated: every 7-8 years out of 10 in the south of Ukraine are assessed as dry and arid. There is only one solution - the use of new agricultural technologies.
Ukrainian farmers are already suffering from drought and crop loss. It is these regions that account for a significant part of the cultivation of potatoes, beets, cabbage and carrots.
These lands are not irrigated, therefore, to counteract the dehydration of the soil, unfortunately, is almost impossible. And gardeners of the Kherson region have already calculated that due to the favorable force majeure in May-June, they lost about 1/4 of the stone fruit crop.
Scientists warn: the famous Ukrainian chernozems risk actually becoming a desert. According to the Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine, only in recent decades the area of dry and very dry zones has grown by 7%. The area of waterlogged lands decreased by 8%.
Under such conditions, the average cereal yield in the Steppe zone decreases. Now it is the lowest in the country: the share of grain production in this zone decreased by 11% to 37%. In 1990, it was at the level of 48%.
Further, this trend will only intensify, and precipitation will appear mainly in the form of natural disasters - abnormal showers and hail. During heat, moisture will evaporate from the soil surface much faster. As a result, crops will suffer from drought.
In addition, wind erosion threatens the soil in Donetsk, Lugansk and Zaporizhzhya regions, as well as in the south of the Kherson region, where fertility is reduced by 25-30%.
Under such conditions, there is a need for additional irrigation. To get a crop, 25 million hectares. land will have to be irrigated. What should farmers do in this situation? Experts advise using new agricultural technologies and insuring the business against adverse weather conditions.
