Many Ukrainian Farms Have Abandoned Onion Production

This view was expressed by Pavlo Bulhakov, an international consultant on fruit and vegetable storage, in his column for AgroTimes.

According to him, compared with last year, many farms have significantly reduced the area under onions. Some enterprises that stored 15 thousand tonnes of produce last year have completely abandoned onion production this season, while very few new players have entered the market.

While last year’s harvest was record-high, the average yield has now fallen by around 20–30 t/ha. This was caused by adverse weather conditions: dust storms affected production in the south, while late frosts and prolonged heavy rains caused problems in the central and western regions.

Significant changes have also occurred in price dynamics. While during last year’s harvest onions were sold for UAH 2/kg or UAH 2.5/kg, there is currently no product available for less than UAH 10/kg. In the south, prices rose from UAH 8/kg to UAH 10/kg or UAH 11/kg, reaching UAH 14/kg the week before last. In western Ukraine, the average wholesale price reached UAH 18/kg and even UAH 20/kg, although a temporary decline is currently being observed due to the sale of crops directly from the field.

The situation is also being affected by more difficult storage conditions due to systematic russian attacks on storage facilities and growing export demand. Ukrainian onions, as well as potatoes and other vegetables, are already being actively shipped to Moldova, Romania and Bulgaria.