Munich, February 2024 – Vista GmbH, a subsidiary of BayWa AG, is once again using state-of-the-art technology to analyze how the Russian war of aggression is affecting agricultural production in Ukraine in the second year of the war. Among other things, almost 7% of the cultivated area is no longer used for agriculture and the course of the front is clearly visible on the cultivation maps.

Vista is also analyzing how the Russian war of aggression is affecting agricultural production in Ukraine in the second year of the war. This was made possible with funding from the European Space Agency and BayWa AG, among others.

The cultivation of spring and winter barley, grain maize, rapeseed, sunflower and wheat was observed. With the help of satellite data, among other things, the Vista scientists determine which crops were grown in which region and on which area. The PROMET physical plant growth model developed by Vista allows detailed forecasts to be made on the yields of the observed fruits.

Crop data makes war zone visible

Last year, around 6.5 percent of the previously agricultural land along the front line fell out of use. Satellite images show the difference between 2021 and 2023: The images show vegetation in places where fields used to be visible. A sign that no crops are currently being grown in these places. Thus, from an agricultural perspective, the front line along which Ukrainian and Russian troops are currently facing each other becomes visible. The data and maps also show that the fields in the Russian-occupied areas are still being cultivated.

Agricultural use in the Zaporizhzhya oblast: The vegetation in the front area is developing, but is not used for food production.

A green dot represents a harvested field. Last year, around 6.5 percent of the former agricultural land along the front line fell out of use.

2023 was a good harvest year on Ukrainian territory despite the lack of arable land. In total, the harvested quantity is even in line with the harvests of the pre-war years: harvests of between 75 and 100 million tons were registered from 2017 to 2021. In 2023, the harvest was around 82 million tons*.

Dam blasting affects irrigation in Kherson

In June 2023, the dam wall of the Kakhovka reservoir was blown up – most likely by Russian troops. The water from the reservoir was subsequently used to irrigate agricultural land in the Kherson oblast, among other things. A comparison of satellite images from 2021 with images from 2023 now shows that the extent of the irrigated area was 52 percent smaller. The white area in the image shows parts of the dry reservoir.

Comparison 2021 (dark blue) and 2023 (light blue) Number of artificially irrigated areas in Kherson oblast: Due to the dam blasting, the proportion of irrigated areas decreased by 52 percent.

* includes the production of crops calculated by Vista for the whole of Ukraine, including the Russian-controlled parts of the country excluding the Crimean peninsula

Figures contain Copernicus data.