Agrarians of the Kherson region express dissatisfaction with the increase in the cost of transporting water for irrigation of fields, which this spring has become 1/3 more expensive.
They turned to the authorities for help, staged protests and threatened to refuse to grow some crops, such as rice. Despite claims of loss-making on irrigated areas, a number of farms announced their intention to increase the amount of irrigated land.
So, two agricultural enterprises from the villages of Novokievka, Kalanchaksky district and Limanetskoye, Berislavsky district, announced the planned arrangement of irrigation systems for 811.5 and 132.8 hectares of land, respectively, for this year.
And between the villages of Zelenovka and Skhidnoye near Kherson, another farm intends to build a pipeline from polyethylene for the same purpose. By the end of this year, the irrigated area of the Kherson region will increase by almost 1 thousand hectares.
If field irrigation really caused only losses, the farmers would not invest their money in it. Experts recommend growing crops on irrigated lands with stable export potential.
They do not advise to focus on vegetables, the prices of which are difficult to predict. It is best, according to experts, to grow sunflower, rice, soy and corn on such lands.
