European business invests in the domestic agricultural sector – Lidea increases seed production and brings new products to the market

Despite the challenges of wartime, the company continues to develop its own seed production in Ukraine and support farmers by establishing the production of organic products.

Serhiy But, Deputy General Director of Lidea Ukraine LLC:

In 2023 The group “Lidea in Ukraine”, which includes four companies, supported the Ukrainian budget for hundreds of millions of hryvnias.

Thus, only “Lidea Ukraine” LLC paid UAH 145.5 million to the state in the first three quarters of the current year, in particular, income tax – UAH 75.6 million, “import” VAT – UAH 38.6 million, and personal income tax – 15.4 million UAH, as well as EUV in the amount of UAH 14.6 million. and military levy – UAH 1.3 million.

The other three companies that are part of the Lidea Group in Ukraine: STOV “Lomovate”, LLC “MAYAK-HUDYAKY” and LLC “CHERLYS” paid UAH 84.3 million.

We sold all available volumes of sunflower seeds, and sales of rapeseed and soybeans increased by more than 40%.

In fact, this is how demand changed during the full-scale war: due to logistics problems, Ukrainian farmers were forced to reorient themselves to oil crops, which give a lower gross yield, but will be sold at a higher price per ton.

One of the key challenges in the 2023 season is shortage of working capital among our farmers. For the first timeand had full warehouses of grain, but it was difficult to predict in what volumes and at what price it would be sold.

Hence, the 2023 season prompted us to develop our own trading department, which made it possible to offer farms a larger set of services. At the same time, we provided credit to our farmers during the spring campaign, farmers who buy Lidea products.

The group concentrated on providing Ukrainian farming with grain.

In particular, Lidea has new products for sunflower in the 2022-2023 season: EC Belfis, EC Slava, EC Epic, EC Ceylon SU. A total of 45,000 ha of novelties were sown.

As for rapeseed, new hybrids EC Capello and EC Momento appeared in the 2022-2023 season. They are sown on a total area of ​​more than 20,000 hectares. In addition, in the 2023 season, the company received registration for 2 varieties of winter wheat, Somtuoso KS and Solindo KS.

In total, more than 50 hectares of crops of the Elite category were sown with these varieties. As for corn, the company has started selling EC Catamaran, Initsi, and Kerala hybrids.

The company is convinced that were able to work successfully thanks to the people – the people of Lydeiv did not lose faith in victory and in the fact that they should remain a reliable partner of the Ukrainian farmer, who creates the seeds that Ukraine needs today, laying the foundation for the country’s victory on the global agricultural market tomorrow.

With faith in the victory of Ukraine

In the first hot months of the war Lidea it was possible to maintain the supply of seeds, and, overcoming logistical difficulties, to continue the export of material from France.

In the company, the period was called “Ukraine is sowing the future!”: then the task was to protect food security and the independence of the agricultural market of Ukraine, ensuring the possibility of spring sowing of spring crops in 2022: corn, sunflower, wheat, soybeans, rapeseed, sorghum, fodder and cover crops .

Providing the Ukrainian farmer with quality seed material, the company works for the future harvest of the Ukrainian farmer.

Not only the conditions are changing, but also the demand, so the team from Lydeiv is constantly preparing new offers for Ukrainian farmers. For sunflower, in the 2022-2023 season, such new varieties as EU Belfis, EU Slava, EU Epic, EU Ceylon SU appeared.

A total of 45,000 hectares of new products have been sown, and there are already good reviews from satisfied customers. For rapeseed, in the 2022-2023 season, new hybrids EU Capello and EU Momento appeared.

They have already been sown on a total area of ​​more than 20,000 hectares. Customers are also satisfied, as the new varieties bring substantial profits to farmers.

In the 2023 season, Lidea also received registration for two varieties of winter wheat: Somtuoso KS and Solindo KS. In total, more than 50 hectares of crops of the Elite category were sown with these varieties.

And from corn, the company began to sell EU Catamaran, Initsa and Kerala hybrids in Ukraine.

During the spring sowing campaign, Lidea provided credit to the market, in particular to farmers who bought its products. The company expects to close credit contracts at the end of October.

The people of Lydeiv know and understand the problems of their clients, they try to build their work taking into account the needs of Ukrainians and the expectations of the specific regions where the company operates.

Organic products and preservation of the ecosystem of Ukraine

The company is increasing capacity in the organic farming segment: sunflower hybrids for organic production have the prefix BIO and are grown in accordance with organic production standards without the use of chemicals even at the stage of hybrid production.

These are Agora Bio, Savanna Bio, Epic Bio for the high-oleic direction. Corn hybrids of this direction are also marked with the prefix BIO. The share of organic production in Ukraine is within 3-5% of the total volume, but there are farmers who grow only organic products for export to the EU.

The demand for organic Lidea seeds is growing, and the export of organic agricultural products to Europe is stable and does not depend on sea ports.

Lidea specialists see prospects for the development of hybrids in the cereal sector, which allows the production of such food products as hominy and flakes. An example of such a hybrid is Tonifi KS.

The development of organic farming is fundamentally important for the preservation of the ecosystem and the fertility of Ukrainian fields. The cultivation technology is distinguished by the absence of any chemical treatments for plant protection (herbicides, fungicides, insecticides); farmers do not apply chemical fertilizers.

Therefore, hybrids for organics should effectively resist diseases due to genetic resistance, have high rates of initial growth and development to resist weeds.

Today, in two important directions for the development of the agricultural industry of Ukraine, Lidea is laying the foundation for tomorrow’s victories of our country on the world agricultural market.

The first is the continuation and increase of domestic production of sunflower and corn seeds in Ukraine. For the country, this is the key to the success of the agricultural complex in the future, and for the commercial team of Lidea, its partners and customers, the developed local production of seeds allows you to calmly plan sales volumes and have product availability in warehouses.

By developing its own seed production, Lidea, as a large taxpayer, continues to fill the state budget, create jobs with official registration and official salary payments.

The second important vector is trading. It is in a situation where farmers lack working capital that it allows to reduce the financial burden and purchase seeds at the expense of Lidea’s sale of marketable grain. This is how a sustainable basis for Ukraine’s food security is created.