The founders of the media group "Technologies and Innovations" and the organizers of the International Scientific and Practical Conference, Kateryna KONEVA, and Nadia Yashchuk, opened the conference with welcoming speeches. It should be noted that welcoming speeches were also delivered by Ihor VISHTAK, the director of the Department of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, Vadym MENDOGRALO, Deputy Mayor of Kamianets-Podilskyi, and Volodymyr PECHKO, Head of the PU "UKRSADVYNPROM". The speakers briefly outlined the state of the horticulture and wished everyone a productive workday. The creation of added value, the development of the processing sector, and the search for new sale markets for stimulating the development of the agricultural industry are priorities in the work of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, emphasized by Ihor Vishtak, the director of the Department of Agrarian Development.

 

Ihor Vishtak emphasized that despite the challenges that Ukrainian farmers face, they continue to develop, update the production base, and implement new technologies into production.

 

This is especially noticeable in vegetable production. Many enterprises have to relocate from the south to other regions of Ukraine, where they quickly adapted and resumed high-quality agricultural production. He added that the government, with the support of international partners, is trying to help domestic producers and introduce financing various programs, in particular, "Affordable loans 5-7-9", providing grant support for the development of orchards and greenhouses, compensation for the purchase of domestic equipment and others. By the way, for now, 232 farming enterprises received 1.1 billion UAH within the grant support for orchards and greenhouses development.

 

The state budget project 2025 includes UAH 4.7 billion for further financing government programs to support farmers.

 

 

Volodymyr Pechko noted that the development of the processing sector and the search for new sales markets is what the Ukrainian agricultural producers need today. Moreover, he added that those who do not try to develop the processing sector but only grow raw products, risk remaining outsiders. As for now, it is extremely important to implement innovative technologies and meet the needs of the current market.

 

According to statistics, worldwide demand for healthy products has increased by 6.8%, so consumers are changing their eating habits. Product sales increased by 12.7%, but income from this increased by only 3%. This is due to negative economic trends and the fact that buyers are not ready to overpay for the product. Therefore, producers must carefully plan their development strategy, considering global trends. 

 

 

The founders of the media group "Technologies and Innovations", Kateryna Koneva and Nadiya Yashchuk, have been grateful to everyone and wished a productive day. 

 

- The name of our conference includes the word "successful" because we are always aimed at success. 

The conference idea and topic remain unchanged, promoting the latest technologies and advanced experiences. Our media group was founded in 2011, and for more than 13 years, we have been publishing the specialized journals "Horticulture and Vegetable Growing & Nut Wood T.I.", "Berry Field", and "Drinks & Beer. T.I.". We have been conducting international conferences since 2016.

 

 

 

Every conference includes speakers` speeches, during which they share their own experiences in growing fruits and vegetables. This conference brought together experts who discussed how to successfully grow pome fruits (apples, pears) and vegetable crops.

 

In particular, Olena KLYMCHUK, co-owner of Klioma Service company, shared her experience of growing and selling vegetables and potatoes in 2024. Mykola ILASCHUK, the founder of the farm "Ilaschuk", told about his experience how to deal with pests on apples and pears trees.

 

 

Anatoliy CHORNYI, the head of farm "Yanis-4" told about the experience of growing pears in the southwestern region of Ukraine. The participants learned how to successfully grow an apple orchard from the agronomist of "Agrocomplex" company, Valentyn NAZAROV. The topic of successfully growing cucumbers undercover was raised as well. Lyudmila ALIKPEROVA, the chief agronomist of the "Dolynskyi TOK", shared their experience.

 

 

The owner of the Lipecki Nursery, Maciej LIPECKI participated in the conference and shared the peculiarities of the horticulture business in Poland and Europe overall, its trends, and prospects. Conference participants learned about current crops, varieties, technologies and innovations.

 

It should be noted that the growing hazelnuts in Ukraine was also in the focus at the conference. The representative of the Corylus Est company, Elio RESSIA, talked about successful hazelnut cultivation.  The representative in Ukraine is EFT Group - the main technological partner of our conference.

 

 

The discussion panel on the topic "Gardening and vegetable season - 2024: expectations and reality. Problems of the industry and ways to solve them" was on the agenda. The moderator of the discussion panel was Serhiy OSTAPETS, project manager of grain and oil crops storage and processing USAID Program for Agrarian and Rural Development (AGRO). Ivan YARMOLYUK, head of the farm "Renaissance", head of the horticulture department of the National University of Bioresources and Nature Management of Ukraine Borys MAZUR, executive director of the Ukrainian Association of Potato Growers Olha SAMOYLYCHENKO also took part in the discussion. The speakers discussed the following issues: the 2024 season: the impact of war, weather, and other factors on the harvest in 2024; forecast of grain prices in 2024; state support for the horticulture industry in 2024, compensation from the state, subsidies, grants, variety policy in Ukraine; sale of fruits and vegetables in supermarkets and markets; processing prospects, etc.

 

 

Olga Samoilichenko told us about the potato market and forecasts for 2025:

 

- Speaking about 2024, we should mention the climatic challenges that every farmer has faced. Potato growers successfully overcame these challenges because they worked according to a properly developed feed and protection system. As of the beginning of August, producers were sure that the price of potatoes would be the same as last year. August was with a great drought, and there was not a single drop of rain during the month in some places. What was the situation? Professional producers protected their crops, while non-professional producers, such as private producers, mostly lost their harvest. And there was a shortage of potatoes on the market. Now, we can surely say that the potato harvest was not harvested by 30% in some places. In the western regions, some producers even exceeded their indicators. But overall, we got a bad harvest. The drought was the biggest challenge and was hard to deal with. And the future of potato growing is impossible without irrigation.

 

 

 

Representatives of various companies gathered at the conference, presenting innovative technologies for the horticulture and processing industries. So, Ihor TARUSHKIN, the marketing manager of preparations for the special crop protection of the "Bayer" company, told us about new challenges and responses in potato protection.

 

Volodymyr VOYEVODIN, manager of BASF company, analyzed the challenges of the 2024 season and technological solutions.

 

 

New solutions for horticulture and vegetable growing were introduced by Andriy OSYKOVIY, the leading specialist in horticulture from the Summit-Agro Ukraine company, head of the Central Region. Yevhen LUGOVSKY, agronomy manager of Tessenderlo Kerley (Belgium), spoke about using thiosulfates (CaTs® and KTS®) to achieve the highest quality of fruits.

 

Biopreparations in plant protection and nutrition were analyzed by the plant physiologist of the BTU Biotechnological Company Yaroslava BUKHONSKA. Integrated protection and nutrition systems were introduced by Oleg DUBYNA, development director of Rodonit Agro company. Oleksander BYKOVSKY, a consultant in horticulture and berry growing of the Agritema company, told us about global biological solutions in fruit and vegetable growing. 

 

 

The product manager for special orchard crops of ALFA Smart Agro, Ivan NASTALENKO, talked about the peculiarities in protection and nutrition for horticulture and vegetable growing.

 

Comprehensive solutions for horticulture and vegetable growing were presented by Yuriy KUKH, product manager of the Libra Agro company.

 

Serhiy RYABKOV, a scientific consultant of Vodovid company, talked about the grant system for perennial crops and what mistakes must be avoided in projects that lead to problems in business. 

 

 

Drip irrigation systems for horticulture and vegetable growing were presented by Nataliya BELIKHINA, a consultant on drip irrigation technology of Evkalipt P company.

 

Hans REIMERINK, Greefa`s sales manager, presented Greefa lines for high-quality fruit sorting. And, about the experience of using self-propelled combines in Ukraine for harvesting fruits, Tecnofruit was introduced by Nataliya LUT, head of the SAD OK company. 

 

 

Together with speakers` speeches, an exhibition of equipment, technologies, and materials for horticulture, nut growing, processing, cooling, and freezing took place. The following companies took part in the exhibition: "Agritema", "Rodonit Agro", "Timak Agro", "BASF", "BAYER", "BTU Biotechnological Company", "Summit-Agro Ukraine", "Kvadrat", "BIONORMA", "Libra Agro - representative of ICL fertilizers", "TerraTarsa", "Grosstar", "Alfa Smart Agro", "YASNO", "DE KEMP Ukraine", "Klioma Service", farm "Renaissance", "Makita Ukraine", "NOVOSAD", "Ramos", "Agreeen", "Voran", "Bee Star", "Sorter-Pak", "Insolar-Cold", "Tolsma", "Agro-Mel", "Vodovid", "Evkalipt P", "Sens Agro", "SAD OK", "ARDEYPAK".

 

 

 

During the conference, a public tasting of NFC juices and other processed products took place. In particular, juices were presented by: farm "Agrosvit-SV", Agrocomplex (TM Happy Apple), "Fresh Fruit Pro" (TM Meleto), "Sady Pidgaychyky" (TM FAVORITE GARDEN FRUITS), farm "Vlasnyk" (TM Energy Apple), "Lvivskyi Sad" (TM GADERIA).

 

 

Other processing products - distillates, liqueurs, marmalades, etc. - were presented by the following producers: Strong Distillery, Mila Devyatko’s Craft Bakery (LAZURIT - Crystal Marmalade), and Gold Black. Beverage producers and other processed products had special places for presentation. Conference participants were able to taste the presented products and talk with producers. Such a kind of public tasting gives producers an understanding of consumer preferences and the opportunity to orientate themselves in all the pros and cons of product improvement. It also helps to discover the latest trends in the processing products market.

 

 

 

At the end of the conference, a traditional auction was held in support of the Armed Forces. It was already the 10th charity auction held during the events of the "Technologies and Innovations" media group.

 

This time, the funds were raised to support the 205th battalion of the TRO 241 brigade - Kupyansky direction,  for aerorozvidka (aerial reconnaissance), where Oleksandr Kaflovskyi, a representative of the Voran company - a partner of the "Technologies and Innovations" media group, has been serving since the first days of the full-scale war. Overall, it was possible to raise UAH 55,500.

 

 

The lots for the raffle at the charity auction were provided by the following companies: Bee Star, farm "Yanis-4", "Planta Group", Mila Devyatko`s craft bakery (LAZURIT - Crystal marmalade), farm "Valentyna", "Summit-Agro Ukraine", Agreen, Strong Distillery, Gold Black, "Vodovid", BTU Biotechnology Company, "Libra Agro", "Klioma Service", EFT Group.

 

 

 

Thank you for supporting the charity initiative! We all should support each other.

 

 

 

 

The second day of the conference, October 25, included visiting the well-known horticultural, vegetable, and processing enterprises of the Khmelnytskyi Region - farms "Zorya", "Zelenytsia Family Winery", "Melnyk-Agro". Conference participants visited an apple orchard at the farm "Zorya" which provides advanced technologies. "Zelenytsia Family Winery" was remembered by participants by vineyards, a walnut orchard, a winery, and saw how walnuts are turned into oil. Conference participants also visited Melnyk-Agro farm to look at successfully growing vegetables with all automatic processes. The area of greenhouses reaches 10 hectares, and open ground - more than 300 hectares. The farm grows cucumbers, tomatoes, and greens. 

 

 

 

 

Larysa Tovkach, phone: +38 097 96 89 516, sad.nti@ukr.net 

Anna Pankratenkova, phone: +38 097 759 25 83, reklama.nti@gmail.com 

Iryna Petroniuk, phone: +38 096 49 166 92, oksana.buh.ti@gmail.com