In Ukraine, the main composting plants are starting to work, – states UMDIS Mushroom Information Agency. Now the compost is shipped by Agaris – the company has been working steadily since the beginning of the war. Other compost yards collect orders and start production. Compost yard “Grikar-APS” in the Kharkiv region (East of Ukraine) cannot resume work yet.The largest producer in Ukraine Agaris (plants in Ternopil and Cherkasy regions, West and Central of Ukraine) reports that they continue production and currently orders are up to 50% of the usual level for this season. “Demand is quite high in given circumstances. This is because mushroom growers are looking at the current high price. But many customers order carefully: they understand that selling such a large amount of mushrooms as they got used before the war will not work now. Located in the occupied territories and in combat zones farms are closed. Unfortunately, other farms – in free Ukraine – also often do not have the opportunity to work at full capacity: there is a lack of staff, or the owners were pushed to go to other regions or abroad, “- explains Agaris plant.
“We have loaded Agaris compost – and now we have mushrooms on it. Yes, at that time we were scared to decide to buy compost and load – but now we understand that we are working at full capacity and there are not enough mushrooms for customers. We understand that loading was the right decision then”, – tells to UMDIS agency one of mushroom farms in in Western Ukraine. Of course, it is still very difficult to predict what the situation will be.
Agaris also adds that transportation of compost has risen in price by an average of 50%, but varies greatly from region to region. For example, it is very easy to find transport to the Southern part of Ukraine: because on the other hand there are many orders from South to the West of Ukraine.
VGFarming – Veres Composting Plant (in Cherkasy region, Central Ukraine) is also resuming operations and will start shipping compost soon. The production reported that orders for the second half of May-June are about 60% of the pre-war plan.
Another large compost yard The World of Straw in the South of Ukraine (Mykolaiv region) accepts orders from this week (last week of April) for deliveries from May 25.
Two compost yards in the East of Ukraine also informed UMDIS agency about the launch of production. In SPD Leshchenko (Kharkiv region) work was resumed at half capacity. Composting yard Agrotandem – Mriya (Dnipropetrovsk region) announced the resumption of compost production both for its own cultivation and for sale.
All manufacturers note that prices are the same as before the war. UMDIS has written about prices here: https://www.umdis.org/sravnyvaem-tsen-na-kompost-v-ukrayne/ . VGFarming shares some thoughts: “The price for compost has not changed, but its cost for the producer, taking in account the rising cost of materials, logistics and volume reduction – has increased significantly. It has “eaten” all previous price increases.” Other compost producers face similar problems.
“It seems that the production of mushroom compost in the first half of summer will be 40-50% of pre-war production. The population of the country – 80% of pre-war. Women, who are more likely to run a household and buy mushrooms than men, make up 60% of the pre-war population. Restaurants in the country – 50% of pre-war. In addition, it is unknown how events will develop further and how they will affect our industry. That is why it is very difficult for mushroom growers to predict the demand and prices for mushrooms, ” – said the Director of UMDIS Mushroom Information Agency Maksym Yenchenko.
