Farmers have begun leaving their crops to rot in the fields due to overproduction
The 2026 season has been extremely difficult for Ukrainian melon growers. Due to overproduction of watermelons, low demand, rising production costs, logistics problems, and security risks, some farmers have been forced to leave their crops in the fields or even use them as fertilizer.
Farmer Andriy Verteba planted 2 hectares of watermelons this year in Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi, Cherkasy Oblast. According to him, due to the surplus of produce, the price dropped to 3–4 UAH/kg straight from the field. At the same time, not a single wholesale buyer came to the farm all season, so part of the harvest was left to rot.
“This season didn’t bring in any money,” says Andriy Verteba.
According to the farmer, the situation has significantly affected his desire to continue growing watermelons.
“I’m feeling discouraged; I have no motivation to work. I’ve devoted ten years to this business. I don’t feel like planting more than a hectare for now,” the farmer shares.
A similar situation has arisen in Zakarpattia. Farmer Mykhailo Palii decided to use part of his harvest to fertilize the soil due to the low wholesale price. He hauled several trailers of watermelons out to a wheat field.
The wholesale price of the produce was about 4 UAH/kg, but problems began as early as the growing stage.
A May downpour destroyed some of the seedlings and washed away the irrigation system. Because of this, Mykhailo Paliy had to replant the watermelons. The lost time and additional expenses significantly increased the production cost—by more than 70%.
“While last year the cost of producing 1 kg was around 1.5–2 UAH, this year it was over 3 UAH. Thanks to our regular customers, we were still able to sell the lion’s share of the harvest, which covered our losses,” noted Mykhailo Paliy.
The season proved particularly difficult for farmers in frontline regions. In the Nikopol district, one farm has been growing watermelons for over 20 years, but this year it faced several challenges at once.
Emergency water shutoffs caused difficulties with irrigation. Another problem was logistics. Some carriers refuse to travel to frontline communities due to the threat of drone attacks.
“We had problems transporting the crop from the field; trucks from other areas didn’t want to come to us. After all, this is a combat zone; we try to negotiate with them, but they say, ‘No, there are drones flying over your area,’ and they don’t want to come,” says Vitalii, the farm’s foreman.
According to him, the farm has already lost about 30% of its profits.
Due to low prices and insufficient demand, farmers may decide not to harvest part of their crop at all.
“I think most farmers will just leave the watermelons in the fields and till them with a disc harrow. The watermelons will be chopped up and serve as fertilizer for next year, but the benefit will be minimal. The farmer has to pay people to load them onto a truck and stack them carefully there. But most likely, if they’re offering 2 UAH/kg, it doesn’t make sense for the farmer to go through the trouble of using a truck. “He already realizes that it’s not profitable,” added the farm representative.
A similar situation is unfolding in the Kherson region. According to Dmytro Yunusov, director of the Department of Agricultural Development and Irrigation at the Kherson Regional State Administration, due to security risks, farmers will likely be unable to harvest crops from approximately 50% of their land.
In June and July, only about 3,000 metric tons of watermelons were successfully shipped from the Kherson region to other regions of Ukraine.
Some buyers who had previously agreed to purchase products from Kherson are refusing to travel to the region and are seeking watermelons in safer areas.
Due to sales difficulties, farmers, in collaboration with local authorities, have begun donating part of the harvest as humanitarian aid to hospitals, schools, and kindergartens.
Under ideal conditions, watermelon yields can reach 40–50 metric tons per hectare.
Farmer Oleksandr Gurin from the Poltava region considers watermelons one of the most attractive crops, but emphasizes the significant costs involved.
“For me, watermelons are the best crop. There’s always a harvest, and there’s always demand. Costs per hectare amount to 150,000–200,000 UAH, and net profit at normal market prices yields at least 200,000–250,000 UAH per hectare,” notes Oleksandr Gurin.
Andriy Verteba provides similar calculations.
“Well, roughly speaking, it cost us over 150,000 UAH per hectare. We grow our watermelons under plastic mulch and use drip irrigation,” said Andriy Verteba.
According to him, hybrid watermelon seeds cost approximately $450 per hectare, while heirloom seeds cost about $50 per hectare. Other significant expenses include land rent, drip irrigation, fertilizers, and labor costs.
Separately, costs for fuel, logistics, and equipment have risen.
Serhiy Milko, Commercial Director of “FC FINVIN,” notes that the average price of a tractor in Ukraine in 2025 was about $33,500, while the cheapest segment—mini-tractors—started at approximately $4,900.
“According to data from the AGRO.RIA marketplace, the average price of a tractor in Ukraine in 2025 was about $33,500, and the cheapest segment—mini-tractors—starts at approximately $4,900. In the spring of 2026, tractors became the most popular category of equipment on the market, and prices rose by about 50% over the course of the year. “Melon farms typically use more compact and less expensive equipment than grain holdings, but the trend of rising prices is the same across the entire market,” said Serhiy Milko.
At the same time, he noted that equipment is not the main expense in melon farming.
“Melon farming is a labor-intensive, not technology-intensive, crop. Unlike grain farming, harvesting here is primarily done by hand—combine harvesters are not used—so the main burden falls on labor and plant protection products, rather than on machinery. This aligns with the industry-wide picture for 2026: the cost of fieldwork across Ukraine is rising by 5–10% year over year, and farmers cite seeds and plant protection products—not equipment—as the main burden. “Wage increases of 10–15% due to labor shortages are putting additional pressure on production costs—and for a labor-intensive crop like melons, this factor is more significant than for grain crops,” noted Serhiy Milko.
Farmers also emphasize that there are virtually no herbicides available for watermelons, so fields often have to be treated by hand. Manual harvesting also entails significant costs.
“If a truck is loaded at 2 UAH/kg, then about 0.5–0.7 UAH has to be paid to the workers just to load that truck. In other words, the farmer isn’t just breaking even—he’s actually operating at a loss,” explained a farmer from the Nikopol region.
It is the purchase price that determines the profitability of growing melons. According to Oleksandr Gurin, a normal market price should yield a profit that is twice the cost.
In practice, farmers report significantly lower figures.
“Right now, watermelons are practically being given away for free, although this period is already winding down a bit. From what I know in Odesa and in our fields, the price ranges from 2 to 5 UAH/kg. In other words, farmers aren’t just breaking even—they’re actually operating at a loss,” said a farmer from the Nikopol region.
In the Kherson region, wholesale prices dropped to 2 UAH/kg, while retail prices in Kherson itself were around 10 UAH/kg.
According to the data provided, at the “Stolichny” market in September 2026, the wholesale price of watermelons was 10–12 UAH/kg. At the “Pochatok” market in Odesa, the wholesale price of red watermelons started at approximately 7 UAH/kg, while the retail price reached 25–30 UAH/kg.
At the “Shuvar” market in Lviv, the minimum price in mid-September was about 10 UAH/kg, whereas last year during this period it rose to nearly 20 UAH/kg.
Serhiy Milko describes the 2026 season as challenging for watermelon growers.
“The 2026 season is challenging for melon growers. There is an oversupply of watermelons in Ukraine, and the wholesale price straight from the field remains at 4–6 UAH/kg—this is not enough to cover costs, which are higher this year than last year. With such a margin, farmers’ priorities shift: capital investments—which are not essential to getting through the season—are put on hold first. Priority is given to extending the service life of the existing fleet of equipment. “Overall, across the agricultural sector, we’re already seeing this exact behavior from customers as margins fall—and there’s no reason to believe that watermelon growers will behave any differently this year,” noted Serhiy Milko.
Farmers cite overproduction as one of the main reasons for low prices.
Since the start of the full-scale war, the geography of melon and watermelon cultivation in Ukraine has changed significantly. While the Kherson, Mykolaiv, and Odesa regions were previously the main areas for commercial watermelon and melon cultivation, production has actively expanded to other regions since 2022.
Many farms that previously specialized mainly in grain crops began growing watermelons and cantaloupes.
Farmer Vitaliy Krugoruky explains that after the loss of part of the production in the south, watermelon prices were significantly higher.
“In the years when production in Kherson ceased and during the early years of the full-scale war, watermelon prices were high. Now we’re seeing a trend where more and more watermelons are being planted every year, but it’s very difficult to sell the produce on the Ukrainian market because our people simply don’t eat as many watermelons as farmers grow,” says Vitaliy Krugorukiy.
His view is supported by Vladislav Cherchel, director of the Institute of Cereal Crops at the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine. According to him, the number of farms growing watermelons has increased, while consumption has declined. A labor shortage remains an additional problem.
The geography of production has also changed. Maksym Hopka, an analyst at the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club, notes that watermelon farming is actively expanding, particularly in the central and northern regions.
“They are doing quite well in the Kyiv region, and in the Vinnytsia, Poltava, and Dnipropetrovsk regions—these are areas that have been very actively developing watermelon production over the past 5–6 years,” said Maksym Hopka.
According to Serhiy Leonov, in recent years, an increasing number of farms have entered the melon-growing sector, counting on high profitability. At the same time, increased competition, a shortage of seasonal workers, and high production costs have made watermelon production more economically challenging.
Despite a challenging season, some farmers have managed to remain profitable by working with retail chains and regular customers.
Farmer Inna Fedosienko works with spot purchases. According to her, she sells about 90% of her watermelon crop to retail chains.
“My buyers include one of the largest retail chains and a slightly smaller one. Of course, it would be ideal to sell all the watermelons at retail, since the price is much more attractive. But in reality, that accounts for only 10–15% of the season’s sales. The price of 8–10 UAH/kg is very attractive,” says the farmer from the Carpathian region.
According to her, there have been no payment issues with retailers so far. The farmer signs a contract, agrees on supply volumes, and then fulfills the terms of the agreement.
In the Cherkasy region, Mykhailo Paliy managed to sell a significant portion of his harvest thanks to regular customers. After a spring downpour, part of the seedlings and the irrigation system were destroyed, so the crop ripened later and had to compete with watermelons from other regions.
“The market was already oversaturated, and this year we didn’t achieve the results we wanted. Thanks to our regular customers, we were still able to sell the lion’s share of the harvest, which covered our losses,” said Mykhailo Paliy.
In the Vinnytsia region, farmer Andriy Fedyk has been growing watermelons and cantaloupes for over 20 years. His farm benefits from high yields—about 80 metric tons of watermelons per hectare, which is roughly twice the Ukrainian average.
The average weight of marketable fruit is 9–14 kg, and individual watermelons of the Tateum hybrid can grow to 18–20 kg.
This year, due to a cold spring and nighttime frosts, the planting of seedlings had to be postponed until early May. At the same time, thanks to modern technologies, the farm began harvesting the first watermelons and melons as early as July 10.
“It’s impossible to achieve a high melon and watermelon yield without strictly adhering to the proper growing techniques. The key factors are the right choice of hybrid, the irrigation and fertilization system, plant training, and the timely cessation of irrigation before the fruit ripens,” said Andriy Fedyk.
The difficult situation this season is not limited to the watermelon market. Viktor Goncharenko, chairman of the Association of Farmers and Landowners, notes that due to unprofitability, some vegetables are simply left in the field.
“There’s a huge problem with vegetables right now. There’s no one to harvest what’s been grown—a lot of it is left in the field. The prices are ridiculous. One farmer said they’re paying 3 hryvnia per kilogram of onions,” said Viktor Goncharenko.
According to him, Ukrainian farmers are currently largely unprepared for the upcoming planting season, as farms lack both funds and workers. Low purchase prices prevent them from accumulating the necessary resources to prepare for the new season.
Tomato growers have also faced difficulties. Due to low prices, some farms were forced to leave their harvest in the fields or even plow it under.
Farmer Andriy Kalinichenko from the Poltava region was unable to sell his tomatoes. In early September, he announced that people could pick their own produce from the field, and on September 27, he posted a video showing him plowing the tomatoes back into the ground.
According to experts, the problem is broader and affects the entire vegetable farming system.
“The problem with farming in Ukraine—specifically vegetable farming—is that no one knows what production volumes are actually planned in Ukraine. In other words, there is no regulation. And here it’s important to understand that vegetable farmers calculate their profits once every four years. Every year, one crop yields a good profit, while another may be unprofitable, which is why crop diversification is necessary. “If you grow nothing but onions, you’re guaranteed to lose money,” said Vadym Krychkovsky, head of the “Organic-D” farm.
Thus, the 2026 season highlighted the vulnerability of Ukraine’s vegetable and melon industry to sharp fluctuations in production, prices, costs, and demand. For farmers, additional risk factors include the war, logistics issues, labor shortages, and rising production costs.
Against the backdrop of a surplus of produce, some farms no longer see any economic sense in harvesting watermelons and other vegetables if the purchase price does not even cover the costs of labor, transportation, and harvesting.
As a reminder, at the end of September, a 3–4-liter pot of classic Ukrainian borscht cost about 153 UAH. Compared to the calculation from September 17, the cost of the dish has risen by more than 8 UAH.
On Ukraine’s domestic market, prices for onions have risen since the beginning of this week. Average wholesale prices are already 21% higher than at the end of last week.
A gradual increase in prices for imported medications is expected in Ukraine due to changes in the dollar exchange rate, rising fuel costs, and higher delivery expenses. This was reported by Oleksandr Komarida, chairman of the board of the European Pharmaceutical Association.
