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Ukraine bids to be world's "breadbasket"

15 November 2012 21:55 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych said here Thursday that his country, once one of Europe's leading exporters of food, has the potential to become a breadbasket for the rest of the world during the global food crisis, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

"The world population reached over 7 billion people and by 2042 it is expected to hit the 9-billion mark. This is a historic opportunity for Ukraine, and we must use it to take our rightful place in the global food market," Yanukovych said during his meeting with farmers here.

The authorities set a target to boost the country's agricultural output by 30 percent in the next decade, the president said.

To achieve this, the government is undertaking reforms in agriculture, encouraging investment and promoting domestic agricultural commodities, especially grain, to new markets, Yanukovych said.

Favorable climatic and natural conditions, geographical location, natural and human resources are also great competitive advantage for Ukraine's agriculture development, he said.

Domestic experts believe that meat, vegetable and grain productions are the most promising sectors of Ukraine's farm industry.

Ukraine has a population of about 45.5 million, around 7 million of them are involved in agriculture. Most of them are smallholder farmers.