IrrigationinUkraine

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food have signed an MOU to modernize and develop the irrigation and drainage sector in Ukraine. The aim is to increase private sector participation in an inclusive and climate-resilient agricultural sector. According to the World Bank, irrigating 1 million hectares of land in southern Ukraine, the country’s driest region, would require $2 billion in investment. IFC has agreed to assist to help the government develop a plan for

Ukraine’s Agriculture Minister Roman Leshchenko told the Ukraine 30 Ecology forum yesterday. “Climate change is taking place and in fact two thirds of our territory is becoming a zone of risky agriculture,” he said. “Especially critical points are July-August.” Farmers should shift to low till, low chemical techniques that use harvesters that shred crop residues, returning them to the soil. Six million hectares, largely in southern Ukraine, urgently need conservation, he said.