Russia controls 22% of Ukraine’s agricultural land according to NASA

Russia controls 22 percent of Ukraine’s agricultural land, and the war is threatening the summer harvest, which could further worsen the global food crisis, according to NASA researchers.

“The world’s breadbasket is at war” and “we are in the early stages of a food crisis that is likely to affect every country and every person in the world in some way,” explained Inbal Becker-Receif, the director of the US space Harvest Program. service.

Based on satellite images taken on June 13 by the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-2 mission and analyzed by the Program’s experts, 22% of Ukraine’s agricultural land is under Russian control in the east and south of the country. In these areas, 28% of winter cereals (wheat, barley, rye) and 18% of summer cereals (corn and sunflowers) are grown, explains NASA.

Before the February 24 Russian invasion, Ukraine supplied 46% of the world’s sunflower oil production. 9% of wheat exports, 17% of barley and 12% of corn also came from this country, according to data from the US Department of Agriculture.

The period between July and October is particularly important for Ukrainian farmers, who harvest winter and spring cereals. After all, winter cereals for next year’s harvest should be planted before November.

However, farmers face serious problems, due to the explosive increase in fuel and fertilizer prices and the risk of their fields being bombed.

According to estimates by the largest association of producers and exporters in Ukraine, the harvest is expected to decrease by 40% for wheat and 30% for corn.

Ukraine is also subject to a Russian naval blockade and cannot export its crop by sea, recalled Sergey Skakun, a researcher at NASA and the University of Maryland.