Vineyards of the company Orion in the Odessa region are experiencing drought stress this year, Pivden reported.
Agronomist Mykola Atmazhov said that more than 10 grape varieties are cultivated on the farm, including table grapes Levii, Preobrazhenie, Roshformish, Veles, Anyuta, and Souvenir, as well as wine varieties Rkatsiteli, Aligote, Cabernet, and Saperavi.
"This year, the drought has had a very strong impact, with only 200 mm of precipitation. Therefore, we are mainly dealing with the situation through drip irrigation," Atmazhov explained.
According to him, irrigation has become almost impossible as the Danube lakes have dried up. Growers used about 1.5 times more water than last year because of the lack of rainfall.
Labour shortages are also adding pressure. Some workers have left the region or are serving in the Armed Forces, while fewer young people are entering the agricultural sector. At the same time, climate change has shifted grape cultivation further north into the Dnipropetrovsk and Zhytomyr regions, increasing competition on the domestic market.
Despite these constraints, the harvest season has begun, and grapes from southern Odessa are already available on the Ukrainian market.
Source: AgroNews