Small and medium-sized businesses today form the basis of the Ukrainian agricultural sector. 81% of agricultural land is cultivated by households, farms and medium-sized farms up to 3 thousand hectares.
This was stated by the Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine Taras Vysotsky during the Government and Business Forum “SMEs of Ukraine 2035: the future of the entrepreneurial economy of Ukraine”.
“The agricultural sector is largely small and medium-sized businesses. These are tens of thousands of legal entities and hundreds of thousands of households. More than 200 thousand agricultural producers are registered in the State Agrarian Register alone,” Taras Vysotsky noted.
According to him, the trend towards an increase in the role of small and medium-sized businesses in the agricultural sector continues. If in 2015, large enterprises accounted for more than 27% of agricultural land, today it is 19%.
Taras Vysotsky emphasized that for the agricultural sector, 2035 was a completely practical planning horizon. In crop production, the production cycle is mainly one year, but in livestock, horticulture and irrigation, investment decisions are calculated for 10, 15 and even 20 years.
“The decisions that farmers make today will largely determine what the Ukrainian agricultural sector will be like in 2035. Even during a full-scale war, producers continue to work and plan development for years ahead,” the minister emphasized.
He also noted that the family nature of many agricultural farms and their attachment to the land and their own production had become one of the factors of the sector’s stability in war conditions. Farmers continue to cultivate the land even in regions where farming is associated with significant risks.
According to Taras Vysotsky, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy will continue to work on initiatives that will create opportunities for the development of small and medium-sized agrarian businesses. It is important that such decisions are balanced and take into account the positions of business and other government bodies.
Within the framework of the forum, Taras Vysotsky also took part in the panel discussion “From vision to action: partnership between government and business for economic growth in Ukraine.” (Agrarian Ministry)