Soil moisture at half the normal level: Denys Marchuk outlines the conditions under which Ukrainian farmers started the spring planting campaign

The 2025 sowing campaign has begun under difficult conditions, not due to a lack of material or technical resources, but due to unfavorable natural factors. A snowless winter and prolonged drought have resulted in soil moisture levels well below the norm.

This was reported by Denys Marchuk, Deputy Chairman of the Ukrainian Agri Council, during a briefing at the Media Center Ukraine.

“The drought we experienced in 2024 has continued into 2025. Because of the snowless winter, there wasn’t enough water in the soil. In fact, while the norm is about 85-87 mm of moisture, we had only 35-40 mm – that’s half the amount needed,” Marchuk explained.

Despite these challenging conditions, he noted that farmers have already planted some 300,000 hectares of spring crops, grains, and legume crops. In total, some 5.7 million hectares are scheduled for planting this season.

According to the expert, recent rainfall in recent weeks is expected to improve conditions for the main planting phase, which will take place in April.

Read more: https://mediacenter.org.ua/news