With such a profit, it is useless to talk about any development of the business. Realizing that it is necessary to change the views on traditional methods of land cultivation as much as possible, searches on the Internet led to a business idea: "Growing niche crops - medicinal plants." It was impressive that from sowing 1 hectare of medicinal plants you can get up to 100 thousand UAH of profit.
Processing of medicinal plants: up to 100 thousand UAH of profit from one hectare
25 June 2026, 06:36 1890
The DITASANA farm began operating in 2020 and cultivates 24 hectares of leased land in the Kharkiv region.
Since the land plot is small, the question arose of how to use this small area with maximum financial return, notes the founder of the FG, Dmytro Shkurenko.
According to him, an analysis of the cultivation of grain and oilseed crops showed that the maximum net profit from 24 hectares could be 40-50 thousand hryvnias per year.
Dmytro Shkurenko, founder of the DITASANA Foundation
However, for the successful implementation of the idea, specialized equipment is required, namely: seeders, weeding units, mowers, and a particularly big problem was the construction of a drying chamber. Since the purchase of an industrial drying chamber costs from 1.5 million hryvnias, it was decided to build it ourselves.
We studied the experience of other people from the Internet and made our own version of the drying chamber.
Dmytro Shkurenko emphasizes that there is no credit from the banking system for small farmers, so at the beginning of his activity his own funds were raised. In addition to the drying chamber, he himself made a seeder for sowing medicinal plants and a cultivator for weeding plants, as well as a single-rotor mower.
Dmytro Shkurenko, founder of the DITASANA Foundation
In 2022, I participated in the SEED 1 training and grant program, with the funds of which I purchased a professional heat generator for a drying chamber. In 2023, I received assistance from the Helvetas grant program. With these funds, a pumpkin harvester and a specialized seeder were purchased. This gave me the opportunity to scale this business.
In 2020, sage was sown on 0.3 ha, marshmallow on 1.5 ha, echinacea on 1.5 ha, and mint on 0.2 ha. A collection point for medicinal wild plants was also opened. Each year, the farm involves more than 50 villagers and residents of neighboring villages in collecting medicinal plants.
In 2021, up to 5 tons of medicinal raw materials were harvested. And in 2025, up to 22 tons.
For reference: The DITASANA farm is a finalist of the All-Ukrainian competition POWER OF AGROCHANGES in the Profitable Niche nomination.
The competition is organized by the online publication AgroPortal.ua with the support of the AGRO Program, funded by the US Government and implemented by Chemonics International.
Alla Stryzheus, AgroPortal.ua
