Farmer Serhiy Lyubarsky stands in one of his vast wheat fields in southeastern Ukraine and wonders how he can reap the harvest given fuel shortages and the threat of Russian bombing.
“Harvesting usually starts on July 15, but diesel fuel, if available, is very expensive,” says Lyubarsky.
His old harvester is parked at his farm in Ray Aleksandrovka, not far from positions held by Russian troops on the other side of a hill about 30 kilometers west of Luhansk.
Lyubarsky cultivates 170 hectares of land, most of which is grown wheat, as well as barley and sunflower, all of which are cereals that have risen in prices on world markets, especially after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the world’s main producer of wheat. . But he was forced to leave 40 hectares of land.
At the end of February, the farmer adds: “We couldn’t buy corn seeds because the war started.” Delivery of imported seeds took about two months.
Another farmer, Anatoly Moiseyenko, from the same city, says the situation is uncertain and although he has enough diesel fuel to harvest wheat, he is worried about the course of the fighting.
He says: “The problem is the war… Is there a harvest, or will the rockets fall again?” At the same time, the Ukrainian military removed the missile warhead, which, apparently, landed in his field.
“I think a match will do,” Kochan says sadly, looking at the field behind his house.
For his part, Lyubarsky still hopes he can harvest the wheat and thinks about the sunflowers due in September: “By then, I hope there will be peace!”
