Union Minister of Agriculture: Ukraine fails as a granary

Created: 03/10/2022Updated: 03/10/2022 16:32

A cornfield against a blue sky.

© Arne Dedert/dpa/symbol image

In view of the war in Ukraine, Union-led agriculture ministries have called for rapid reactions for agricultural policy.

Lower Saxony's head of department, Barbara Otte-Kinast, said on Thursday that the Ukraine would fail as Europe's granary and as an important producer of sunflowers, corn and wheat.

The entire agricultural policy must therefore be put to the test.

Warberg - "It is important to act immediately in the interests of agriculture and food security," said the CDU politician after a meeting with Saxony-Anhalt Minister Sven Schulze (CDU).

Schulze and Otte-Kinast presented a 13-point statement, which also comes from the responsible ministries in Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and North Rhine-Westphalia.

"Ecological aspects are important, but now they have to take a step back for the necessary time," said Schulze.

The EU Commissioner responsible for climate policy, Frans Timmermans, recently spoke out against such an approach.

"Please don't believe in the illusion that you are helping food production by making it less sustainable," he said.

The agriculture ministers from the Union call on Federal Minister Cem Özdemir (Greens) to “use the scope for action in the interest of short-term mitigation of the consequences of the crisis”.

The agriculture ministers of the G7 countries want to discuss the consequences of the war against Ukraine on the international food supply on Friday.

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Ukraine is an important producer of wheat in Europe, but large quantities of wheat are also harvested in individual countries in the EU.

However, production in Ukraine can affect prices worldwide.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), France produced significantly more wheat than Ukraine in 2020, and Germany almost as much as the Eastern European country.

dpa