It was a mild winter this year in the Ukraine, followed by spring rains, so although it is too early to tell, a good garlic harvest is expected if the current situation continues.
Ukrainian garlic company Patriot expects to harvest around 300 tonnes of fresh garlic this season which is a 30% increase compared to last year's harvest. According to Natalia Sudarkina from Patriot, almost all of this volume has been reserved for Ukrainian supermarkets.
With the devaluation of the national currency and an increase in Chinese prices, domestically grown garlic is in high demand. Unfortunately, Ukrainian growers are not yet able to supply the demand from the market and 70% of garlic supplies will still need to be exported from China, around 4-5 thousand tonnes per year.
"I believe that the garlic market in the Ukraine shows a lot of promise. This is why we have decided to increase our growing area and are currently in talks with a potential investor for the construction of a large warehouse for 1000tonnes with refrigeration and processing." said Natalia.
The company also received good news this week with the signed agreement with the Canadian Government, UHBDP and the Mennonite Economic Development Associates of Canada (MEDA). With this agreement, Patriot will receive a targeted financing fund.
"This is a new and very important step in our development, this has allowed us to acquire modern equipment and better techniques for garlic cultivation." concludes Natalia.
