NOT FAR from the besieged city of Kyiv, cereal farmer Sergey Marchenko needs to prepare his ground for sowing this spring but worries that there are now landmines in his fields.

“We have information that Ukrainian fields are mined” said Sergey. “But so far I have no exact information whether my field is mined or not. I don't have the opportunity to check the field for mines because it's not safe, and the state emergency services are now doing other things related to the war – putting out fires, pulling people out from under destroyed houses, dismantling ruins, etc.

“The fact is that my fields are near the city of Vasylkiv, Kyiv region, and there were battles with Russian occupants who killed civilians in Vasylkiv. Therefore, I do not exclude the presence of mines in the fields near Vasylkiv. Just last night, dozens of cruise missiles were fired at the city's airfield to destroy not only the airfield, but also civilian infrastructure, including a dormitory and other houses of civilians.”

Only a few weeks ago Sergey was preparing his 75 hectare farm to sow maize. Now the invasion has turned his life upside down. He said: “There is only a limited amount of seed and no fuel at all. Prices have risen 40 to 60%.

“Also, many farmers have problems with the marketing of agricultural products, namely they cannot sell, for example, sunflowers and corn, because logistics are very poor, and in some directions even destroyed.”

To make matters worse bank finance is drying up in times of war: “I also need working capital for the sowing campaign to sow corn, but banks are not ready to give loans in wartime.”

This is a sharp turn around from last year, when farmers enjoyed record harvests running at 3 t/ha for sunflowers, maize at 9 t/ha and wheat yielding 6 t/ha. Sergey said: “As a consequence of the good harvest, banks were ready to grant loans. But now banks know they are taking a risk lending to the agricultural sector.”