In 2022, Lviv region collected almost 9.5 thousand tons of buckwheat. This figure is 2.5 times higher than the 2021 harvest.
Lviv farmers were able to achieve such results thanks to the increase in cultivated area by 70% to 6.3 thousand hectares. At the same time, the average yield of buckwheat increased by 37% to 14 c/ha.
However, buckwheat is still a niche crop in the Lviv region, about 150 farmers are engaged in its professional cultivation in the region. The complexity of growing this culture is due to several factors. Firstly, buckwheat has a relatively low yield and, accordingly, a higher cost compared to other grain crops. Secondly, before the war, our producers constantly felt pressure on the price of buckwheat due to the constant growth of its imports.
“This year, the price situation on the market has changed radically. Due to the reduction of production in the steppe zone and the decrease in import volumes, buckwheat prices in Ukraine reached a record level. Lviv agrarians predicted such a development back in the spring, that’s why they decided to expand crops,” says Tetyana Getman, director of the APR department.
According to her, the department encouraged producers to increase the area under buckwheat through the Comprehensive program of support for the agrarian sector of the region in 2022. Within the framework of this program, farmers had the opportunity to reimburse up to 50% of the cost of highly reproductive buckwheat seeds from the regional budget. The program was used by 8 economic entities that purchased and sowed 30 tons of buckwheat seeds on an area of 314.5 hectares.
The largest number of buckwheat crops (over a thousand hectares) were in Zolochiv, Sambir and Chervonograd districts.
Over the past eight years, the agrarians of the region have either increased or decreased the sown area of this crop. However, over the past 4 years, buckwheat cultivation has been gaining momentum, in particular, since 2019, the area has been increasing annually.
For reference: buckwheat is the only non-cereal plant in the group of cereal crops. Groats from it have high consumption, taste and dietary qualities.
Buckwheat grains contain organic acids (citric, malic, maleic, oxalic), which contribute to better assimilation of not only buckwheat porridge, but also other dishes that are eaten after it. The composition of buckwheat grain includes such valuable vitamins as B1, B2, B6, P (rutin), which are necessary for the normal physiological activity of the human body. This determines the value of buckwheat as a medical and dietary food product.
During the time of Independence, Ukrainian buckwheat became a victim of market competition. Chinese or Russian grain, even of lower quality, turned out to be cheaper, so the areas devoted to this crop in Ukraine decreased, and buckwheat became a niche crop.