Agro-industrial holding Astarta, the largest sugar producer in Ukraine, is going to carry out sowing work on an area of 208,200 hectares in optimal terms, despite the late start due to cold weather, the company said in a press release on Monday.
According to the agricultural holding, it will sow sugar beets on an area of 33,500 hectares, corn (59,900 hectares), soybeans (31,200 hectares), wheat (46,500 hectares), sunflower (28,100 hectares), winter rapeseed (7,200 hectares), and is also engaged in organic farming on 1,800 hectares.
Astarta noted that it is ready for the sowing season and provided with plant protection products, fertilizers and seeds. The agricultural holding said that it produces wheat and soybean seeds at its own seed plants under the Astarta Select brand
According to the company, John Deere tractors purchased in 2020-2021 will be used in the current sowing campaign, within the framework of a five-year investment program for the renewal of agricultural machinery, and properly trained personnel will be also involved into it.
Astarta is a vertically integrated agro-industrial holding operating in eight regions of Ukraine. It includes eight sugar factories, agricultural enterprises with a land bank of 243,000 hectares and dairy farms with 25,000 cows, seven elevators, a biogas complex and a soybean processing plant in Poltava region (Globino Processing Plant LLC)
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has lent a $20 million loan to Zerno-Agrotrade LLC and Tsukoragroprom LLC, owned by the Astarta agro-industrial holding, for replenishment of their working capital.
“Astarta will introduce advanced IT solutions necessary for precise farming that it develops in Ukraine. These modern agricultural technologies will allow boosting the yield of agricultural crops and reducing the use of mineral fertilizers by 15%,” EBRD Senior Adviser for External Relations Anton Usov wrote on Facebook.
In the next three years, Astarta also plans to increase the area of land on which it will use the technology of precision farming.
“In the context of this project, Astarta will also offer a high-quality integrated training program for graduates of schools and students of universities who want to work in the agricultural sector of Ukraine,” Usov noted.
Astarta is a vertically integrated agro-industrial holding operating in Poltava, Vinnytsia, Khmelnytsky, Ternopil, Zhytomyr, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, and Kharkiv regions. It consists of eight sugar refineries, agricultural enterprises with a land bank of about 250,000 hectares, a soybean processing facility, dairy farms and a complex that produce energy from agricultural residues.
