UKRAINE at a Crossroads
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Ukraine’s rich agricultural experience
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By Harold Byers
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hen Ukraine is referred to as having been the breadbasket of the former Soviet Republic and, often, of Europe, it’s no idle boast. Many scholars view the country as a contender for one of the world’s first great farming civilizations.

The territory of the country had at least a dozen Neolithic cultures that have been unearthed, dating back from the 7th to 4th millennia B.C.E. According to Dr. M. Videiko at the Kyiv Mohyla Academy, the ancient agricultural formations of Ukraine spread and evolved into the civilization of ancient Europe.

Archeologists have found that wheat, barley and millet were harvested 3,000 years ago; rye came along a thousand years later. The early cultivation of crops is credited with developing a strong respect for nature.

According to the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, even during Kyivan Rus, the first state among the Eastern Slavs that arose in the 9th century, food was choice, varied and plentiful. There were professional cooks at royal courts, monasteries and wealthy homes.

Ukraine’s trade relations brought buckwheat from Asia in the 11th century A.D., followed by melons and eggplants. By the 17th century, the potato, corn, tomatoes, pumpkins, beans, cayenne peppers, cocao and other plants were enriching local agriculture. Bread was long a revered mainstay. In the 13th century, watermills and windmills began replacing the manual grinding of grain between two stones. The rich variety of foods was enjoyed throughout the population.

In 1909, the then dominant Russian Empire introduced land reforms that provided every peasant the opportunity to become a landowner. Some lands, like forests and wetlands, were held under community ownership. Agricultural techniques like crop rotation and organic fertilizer were in wide use.

Under Soviet control, tragedy struck. Many scholars believe Stalin implemented a forced famine to drive through collectivization in the 1930’s and to knock back Ukrainian nationalism. Six to ten million lives were lost from related actions. Most land was broken into tiny plots allocated to families. By 1940, 97 percent of all peasant households had been collectivized and private ownership of property eliminated.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the collective system fell apart. Agricultural production sharply decreased. In 2000, after state and collective farms were officially dismantled, signs of recovery appeared. Over 13,000 new agricultural units were formed, including farms and cooperatives, as well as private and leased businesses. Agricultural systems are now being rebuilt, in part through investors and agricultural companies recognizing the potential of the Ukraine’s farming heritage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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