In 2023, the full-scale invasion brought significant changes to Ukrainian supply chains. The balance of phosphorus and NPK fertilizers fell from 2.2 million tons to 0.5 million tons for the year. The situation with nitrogen fertilizers is as follows: 5 million tons in 2021, against 1.5 million tons in in 2022. As a result, deficiency of mineral nutrition will have a negative effect on productivity.
In 2021, Ukrainian farmers consumed about 700,000 tons of phosphorus, 140,000 tons of potassium, and 1.3 million tons of NPK fertilizers.
For today, the lack of a production base for mineral fertilizers makes Ukraine 100% dependent on the import of these critically important resources.
Currently, only two out of five industrial plants for the production of nitrogen fertilizers are operating in Ukraine. The domestic agricultural sector remains dependent on the supply and price of gas. Gas expenses account for up to 70% of the cost of nitrogen fertilizers. The high price of gas automatically increases the cost of fertilizers.
Thus, the total lack of fertilizers at the moment is one of the biggest problem for Ukrainian farmers. And it is very important to realize, that it is a problem not only for farmers but for the entire country.