© Archyde.com/Valentyn Ogirenko
REFERENCE FILE IMAGE. Sunflowers are seen in a field near Grebeni, in the Kiev region, Ukraine
LEOPOLIS, Ukraine, March 12 (Archyde.com) – Ukraine, a major global producer of agricultural products, has banned fertilizer exports due to the Russian invasion, the Agriculture Ministry said on Saturday.
Ukraine has already banned exports of some agricultural products and introduced licenses for its main export products: wheat, corn and sunflower oil.
“The cabinet of ministers is introducing a zero quota for the export of mineral fertilizers which is a de facto ban on the export of fertilizers from Ukraine,” the ministry said in a statement.
He added that the ban would help “maintain the balance in the internal market” and applies to nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and complex fertilizers.
Ukraine traditionally begins spring fieldwork in late February or March. Farmers say they will start planting in safe areas as soon as they can.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that the country should plant as many crops as possible this spring, despite the Russian invasion.
The country’s agricultural producers’ union said this week that farmers are likely to reduce areas sown to sunflower seeds, rapeseed and maize this year, replacing them with cereals: buckwheat, oats and millet.
Ukraine, the world’s largest exporter of sunflower oil, had forecast before the invasion that it could export more than 60 million tons of grains, including 33 million tons of corn and 23 million tons of wheat, in the 2021/22 season. which runs from July to June.
The Agriculture Ministry said that Ukraine had exported 43 million tons of various grains in the 2021/22 season as of February 23, the day before the invasion.
(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk, Editing in Spanish by Manuel Farías)