Agritechnica in Hanover (Germany) is the world's largest trade fair for agricultural technology. The fair attracts 2,811 exhibitors from 52 countries. Around 400,000 visitors are expected by the end of the 7-day fair.
The fair is accompanied by a large programme of events. This includes the highly acclaimed conference "Prospects for agriculture in Ukraine — How can integration into the EU and sustainable reconstruction succeed?", which took place on 15 November 2023.
At the beginning of the 2 1/2 hour event, Mykola Melnyk, Head of the Directorate for Seed Development of the Ukrainian Ministry of Agricultural Policy and Anna Danyliak, Expert for Agroecology, NGO EcoAction, presented the current situation in Ukraine and the great agricultural potential of Ukraine on the basis of many facts and figures.
In the subsequent panel, Mikhailina Kaparulina, Director, AGRO PARTNER 777, Oleksandra Avramenko, Director of the Committee on European Integration of UCAB, Olexandr Starynets, Director of the Secretariat, Agrarian Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Alexander Zein, Production Manager, UIFK-Agro GmbH and Martin Ritter, Head, Ritter Bio Agro LLC together with Mykola Melnyk and Anna Danyliak discussed different questions of the current situation of agriculture in Ukraine and the prospects for the future.
Once again it became clear that the war is making enormous demands on farms. Rising prices for inputs, in some cases falling producer prices, transport problems, the mining of many areas, problems with liquidity and more. However, it also became clear once again that the farms are continuing to manage their companies with great commitment, adapting their crop rotations to the new conditions and looking for and finding creative solutions for their marketing channels.
Martin Ritter, who runs a farm in Germany and the "Ritter Bio Agro" farm in Ukraine in accordance with organic farming guidelines, made this clear with reference to his farm. On his farm in western Ukraine, he grows a wide range of cereals and other grains - even since Russia's attack on Ukraine - which he also markets in these times. Martin Ritter and his network are also initiating numerous aid programmes for families affected by the crisis on Ukrainian farms.
The event was moderated by Mariya Yaroshko, Head of the German-Ukrainian Agricultural Policy Dialogue (Deutsch-Ukrainischer Agrarpolitischer Dialog (APD)). The conference was organised by DLG e.V. - German Agricultural Society and APD in cooperation with the project "German-Ukrainian Cooperation in Organic Agriculture".
