Ukrainian greenhouse production of war time

Zmiiv vegetable factory in the Kharkiv region, was completely destroyed in 2023 with the hit of Russian rockets. Before that the company was the largest producer of greenhouse cucumbers in Ukraine with total area of 21 ha under cucumbers and tomatoes.

The greenhouses of the vegetable factory in the village of Slobozhanske were subjected to several waves of Russian attacks. For the first time, they were damaged by shelling in 2022 - at that time, the front line was 15 kilometers from the enterprise. Last year, the greenhouse was completely destroyed by a Russian rocket. The damage caused by the Russian strikes has not yet been fully calculated, says the director of the Zmiiv vegetable factory, Ihor Sysenko.

"Throughout 2022, the operation of the greenhouse was very unstable. When shelling, glass was blown away and pouring down covering the plants inside of the greenhouse. It was impossible to ensure work in the greenhouse. In a radius of 1 kilometer, even in the nearby houses, all the windows were blown away with explosions. But we continue to grow vegetables," says the director of the enterprise.

"Up to 400 people worked for us before the war, now - 80." says Ihor Sysenko.  “In 2022, many skilled staff-members left the company. The nearby territories were occupied, the front line was 12 kilometers away. Bridges were broken. We were cut off from all communications throughout March 2022: no supplies were possible, no fertilizers, no crop protection, we could not release our vegetables although the neighbouring towns badly experience the lack of food supply. Very difficult times, but we survived them," says Sysenko.

"On March 9, 2023, an Kh-22 missile hit us directly on the territory of the enterprise. In order to save jobs, we were forced to change our business processes. We began to grow vegetables in open field. Our company has a land plot of 60 hectares. So we decided to use them all for creating jobs and production of food for the residents of the region and all of Ukraine," says Sysenko, who has been working at the factory for 22 years.

"This year, we plan to plant 30 hectares in open field vegetables. Next year, we plan to increase it to 50 hectares. It's drastic. Before the war, we were the largest producer of cucumbers in Ukraine. The main task for us is to provide jobs for all our specialists and keep the company operational. " says Sysenko.

"If we don't provide jobs, the skilled people from the region will have to leave, abroad or to other regions of Ukraine. Luckily we found all key professionals to go on with production. 80 people work for our company permanently, during harvesting season we increase the number of jobs to 120. We have reserved the most important male-specialists from mobilization otherwise we cannot ensure our work if these men are called to army.”- says the director.

This year, carrots, beets and onions were sown, says chief agronomist Lyudmila Alikperova. "We have many varieties of onions. There are early, middle and late onions, also red and yellow varieties. We started sowing with white varieties in late March - early April, and finished in mid-April. This is how we extend the period of harvesting from  August (for fresh market) till late autumn (for storing)," says the agronomist Lyudmila Alikperova.

"One of our premises survived over the shelling and we used it for growing seedlings of watermelons and sweet peppers, which we will plant in open field. In particular, 60,000 pepper plants were planted", the director of the enterprise notes.

The Zmiyiv vegetable factory began to grow blueberries.  "In Kharkiv region, very few blueberries are grown. Blueberries are mainly grown in the West of Ukraine. This is a promising direction, especially in our area," says Sysenko.

"Blueberry can be grown throughout the territory of Ukraine, but it is not very common here in the East. We have rich black soils which are not suitable for the blueberries. We imported peat for our plantation," Lyudmila Alikperova explains.

According to her, this year the blueberries bloomed a week earlier. The crop will be harvested in several stages - from June to August.

"The high yield of a blueberry is five kilograms from a bush. We are working towards that. Our plantation is still young," the specialist notes.

An irrigation system was installed for vegetables and berries so that they are not dependent on the weather. Bumblebees were brought from the Netherlands to pollinate blueberries, says the chief agronomist.

"To set fruits, pollination is mandatory, but the blueberry flower is bell-shaped. Bees do not pollinate it very well. For blueberries, you need to use bumblebees. We order the best bumblebees: they fly for a long time," Alikperova says.