Climate change and agriculture in Ukraine

The climate has already become drier throughout Ukraine. In recent years, droughts have been observed in areas where they did not exist before. There are almost no areas with limited thermal resources for growing heat-loving crops. Rapid and excessive accumulation of heat shortens the growing season, promotes premature maturation of various crops and can lead to reduced yields. The consequences of climate change for the country's agriculture as a whole are quite complex and ambiguous. But it is very likely that warming to 2-2.5 ° C can increase the yield of many crops (including wheat) in our area with some regional differences. Outside of this warming, the yield of all crops will decrease.

Currently, the temperature rise in Ukraine is already 1-1.5 ° C and approaching 2 ° C. The efficiency of precipitation decreases, there is a risk of disappearance of such a small area of ​​sufficient moisture. Already now we can observe changes in the structure of vegetable sown areas, the transition to late-maturing, more productive varieties of traditional vegetables. Increasing the moisture deficit will have a negative impact on the yield of potatoes and sugar beets. In the future, we can expect the expansion of the area favorable for eggplant, sweet peppers and tomatoes.

Adaptation to climate change at all levels, from each farm to the country as a whole, is needed to make good use of the beneficial aspects of climate change, such as increasing thermal resources and the ability to grow more crops and varieties.