Without irrigation, southern and eastern regions of Ukraine risk turning into Dry Steppe — expert
Photo by: «ПРОПОЛЕ» / PROPOLE
Southern and eastern regions of Ukraine are rapidly losing their suitability for farming without the systematic implementation of irrigation, says Mykola Suchek, Director of the Agrotechnical Department at PROPOLE.
According to him, the Steppe zone — Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Mykolaiv, and Odesa regions — has in recent years effectively turned into a zone of extremely high-risk farming (Dry Steppe). Droughts recurring every 3–5 years are quickly pushing these areas toward semi-desert conditions, while in some parts of Odesa region, climatologists already speak of desert-like features.
Climate change is causing a geographical shift in crop acreage. Cultivation of crops, including sunflower and corn, is gradually moving to the Central-Western Forest-Steppe and even Polissia. However, as the expert notes, there is almost no “classic” Polissia left in Ukraine — the Forest-Steppe has shifted, while parts of the central regions have turned into Steppe.
“Since 2020, the Southeast has been reducing sunflower acreage, but overall across the country, it has grown due to expansion into the Central-Western Forest-Steppe. As an agronomist, I must note that crop rotations there are oversaturated with oilseeds. This has a downside — soil depletion, violations of agronomic practices, and therefore the spread of Sclerotinia and downy mildew. These fungi accumulate in the soil and can persist for up to nine years,” said Suchek.
According to him, today in the fields of Khmelnytskyi, Ternopil, Vinnytsia, Chernivtsi, and Ivano-Frankivsk regions, it is difficult to find sunflowers without signs of Sclerotinia. Weather conditions only encourage disease spread: periodic rains and sharp temperature fluctuations (from night lows of 9–10 °C to daytime highs of 27 °C) reduce plant resistance.
Another factor is farmers cutting costs on expensive fungicides against downy mildew. In such cases, the problem can no longer be solved by treatments alone. A comprehensive approach is needed: proper crop rotation, agronomic measures, including the use of specific microbiota capable of restraining pathogens and restoring soil balance.
