About 330,000 ha of agricultural lands cleared of mines across Ukraine in 2023

Last year about 330,000 hectares of agricultural lands were cleared of mines across Ukraine, and they will be used as crop areas in 2024.

The relevant statement was made by Ukrainian Agrarian Policy and Food Deputy Minister for Digital Development, Digital Transformation and Digitalization Denys Bashlyk in a commentary to Ukrinform.

“Last year 330,000 hectares were inspected and cleared of mines, mostly in the Kherson and Kharkiv regions,” Bashlyk said.

In his words, the demined lands will be used as crop areas this year. However, the total area of plantations will remain practically the same as last year.

According to Bashlyk, the structure of crop areas will also remain mostly unchanged, although some agricultural producers are planning to shift focus from corn to soybeans.

“As we understand, it is precisely for logistical reasons, because corn is larger in volume. More wagons are needed to transport corn, and the cost of logistics is now increasing. But, I cannot say that there is a trend towards a certain crop. There is no such thing today,” Bashlyk explained.

A reminder that, following the priority inspection and demining efforts, more than 200,000 hectares of agricultural lands were returned to Ukrainian farmers in 2023.