50 Fascinating Facts About Agriculture (and Ukraine's Role in the Global Food Chain)

 In 35 years, the world's population may exceed 9 billion people. To feed so many mouths, farmers all over the planet will have to work hard. Ukraine is considered a country with a very powerful agricultural sector. But what is the real role of our farmers on a global scale?

Agriculture is usually not in the sphere of interest of a large number of people. But in vain. After all, the future of the planet will depend on its effectiveness.

 
Here are 50 facts that will make you think about starting a small farm business.

 

1. Agriculture began around the 10th millennium BC

At this time, the first agricultural revolution took place, when nomadic tribes began to farm. And only in the 7th millennium BC.

2. The cow as an advertising space began to be used as early as 1984

Then a Canadian farmer for the first time in the world began to sell advertising space on his cows.

  

3. The United States grew to modern proportions thanks to agricultural machines

And Cyrus McCormick is considered the "father of modern agriculture" because in 1831 he invented the world's first mechanical thresher. This made it possible to replace workers with machines during the harvest and put the United States in the lead.

4. There is a monument to the weevil in Alabama

When in 1915 this pest destroyed almost the entire cotton crop in Alabama in three years, farmers decided to try to plant peanuts that were “uninteresting” to the weevil. It turned out to be much more profitable, so the farmers erected a monument to the insect as a sign of gratitude.

5. Only 11% of the land on the planet is suitable for ideal crop growth.

If we translate this into numbers, then this is about 13 billion hectares. The rest of the soil is too dry, wet, and too depleted.

6. Trees in a city can cool the air 2-8 degrees

. This saves 30% of the money spent on air conditioning. Trees also absorb 150 kg of CO2 per year.

7. Pulses are the food that will save the world from hunger

. The high-calorie content, high protein, and fiber content, and low cost of growing pulses make them an ideal weapon in the fight against world hunger. That is why the UN declared 2016 the Year of Pulses.

8. Now in the world 793 million people are malnourished - this is almost 20 Ukraine in terms of population.

But the paradox is that 500 million inhabitants of the Earth suffer from obesity.

9. By 2050, 70% more food will be needed The

UN predicts that by 2050 the world's population will increase by 2.5 billion people and will amount to 9.1 billion people. To ensure that there is enough food for a growing population, agricultural production must increase by 70% by 2050.

10. Although we need more food every year, investment in agricultural research is rapidly declining. the amount of investment in agro-industrial research has decreased by 50%.

11. Wheat is the most important food for 2.5 billion people in 89 countries

Ukraine is lucky: we grow 2 times more grain than we eat. 

12. New Zealand supplies a third of the world's kiwi fruit  

In the early 1900s, Mary Isabelle Fraser visited China and brought kiwi seeds to New Zealand. The first harvest was received in 1910.

13. Bananas are the most productive fruit in the world

They are the 4th largest crop in the world after wheat, rice, and corn. Bananas grow in more than 100 countries on farms. The main suppliers are India, the Philippines, China, and Ecuador. 

14. Over 6,000 different types of apples are grown in the world.

The largest producer is China, followed by the United States, Iran, Turkey, Russia, Italy, and India. 

15. Small farms produce over 70% of the food needed to feed the world.

16. There are almost 39 thousand farms in Ukraine.

The total area they occupy is 4392 thousand hectares. But just a year earlier, there were 39.4 thousand farms in our country. 

By comparison, there are about 2.2 million farms in the US, and approximately 97% of them are family-run.

Farmers in the USA and Ukraine

17. For 66 years, the efficiency of agriculture in the world has increased by 2.5 times.

Farmers now produce 262% more food than they did in 1950.

18. Already 10 years ago, 1 American farmer fed 144 people

In 1940, the average American farmer could only feed 19 other people. 

Americans will feed 10 times more people

19. A third of agricultural production is exported.

The main exporters are the USA, Canada, India, China, and Brazil. Ukraine is a leader in the production and export of sunflower oil.

20. In Ukraine, 8% of the population is

involved in agriculture, By comparison, more than 24 million American workers are involved in the agricultural sector - this is 17% of the total labor force.

21. Farmers - the leaders in the number of suicides in the US

The second in the ranking are builders and repairmen - but they say goodbye to life half as often as farmers. The main reasons for such sad statistics are that an American farmer needs to work for a quarter of a century to make the farm pay off, the US market is almost closed to small producers, so farmers all the time feel great pressure from corporations.

Farmers are the leaders in the number of suicides in the United States

22. 1 out of 5 people in the world work in some kind of livestock sector.

23. In 2016, the United States produced 28 times more beef than Ukraine

Ukraine produced only 0.4 million tons, and the States over 11 million tons. This is a fifth of the beef that is produced worldwide.

24. Pigs are among the most intelligent animals in the world

They are ranked 4th after chimpanzees, dolphins, and elephants.

27. A third of food comes from bees

Without them, it would be extremely difficult and expensive for a person to even drink a cup of coffee because, without pollination, its production would be an extremely difficult and expensive process.

28. Ukraine - the most honeyed country in Europe

Last year, only due to the export of honey, bees brought about $84 million to the Ukrainian economy.

29. Ebola and other epidemics of recent years have come from animals

According to the UN, world population growth, intensive farming practices, and climate change favor the emergence of new strains of viruses in animals. In recent years, humanity has faced 39 new diseases, including swine flu, chicken flu, Ebola, smallpox.

30. Ukrainians spend the most on food in Europe

A quarter of our country's population spends over 80% of their income on food. In comparison, Americans spend 10% of their income on food, the lowest in the world.

31. Demand for fertilizers will exceed 200 million tons in

2018 the average consumption of commercial fertilizers was 1,846,900 tons per year. In 1980-89 it was already 47,411,166 tons per year.

32. More than 11% of all arable land on the planet is planted with genetically modified products

. The total area of ​​all arable land on the planet is approximately 1.5 billion hectares.

33. The tomato was the first food to be modified

. It happened in 1994. True, he had almost no taste, so he could not resist on the market. And for the first time, scientists understood how to "insert" the genes of other species into plants, back in the 1980s.

 

34. The United States, Brazil, Argentina, Canada, and India produce the most GM foods

152 million of the world's 170 million hectares planted with GM crops are in these five countries. Most of Europe still refuses to grow GM products.

 

35. Soybeans, cotton, corn, and canola are the main genetically modified crops

Almost no non-GMO soybeans are grown in the world. According to the All-Ukrainian Ecological League, almost 80% of genetically modified soybeans and about 30% of corn are cultivated in our country.

36. Buckwheat is one of the few products that have not yet been modified

. And its cultivation does not require any fertilizers. But at the same time, it is a low-yielding crop. Barley, bulgur, millet, rye, and oats are also “free” from GMOs.

37. In 2012, 17 million farmers in 28 countries planted 170 million hectares of GMO cereals.

That is, already 4 years ago, the average farmer in the world was growing 10 million hectares of genetically modified cereals.

38. The fields of the 5 largest Ukrainian agricultural holdings are equal in area to the territory of Slovenia

. The largest agricultural companies UkrLandFarming, NCH, Kernel Group, Myronovsky Hliboproduct, and Ukrainian Agrarian Investments only prove once again that agribusiness is the most promising industry in Ukraine.

Fields of the largest landowners of Ukraine

39. Ukrainian sunflower oil can fill 15 of the world's largest pools

. For example, the Alfonso del Mar pool in Chile holds 250,000 cubic meters of water. It's like 6,000 standard pools.

Ukraine exports half of its grown grains

From January to October 2015, it sold $5.4 billion worth of grains abroad, which is almost 16% of the country's total exports. At the same time, half of them were born, and another third - wheat.  41. A significant share in our country and the European wheat market - 13% of EU imports 

42. Agricultural efficiency in Ukraine is still lower than in Europe

In 2015, we harvested 4.1 tons of wheat per hectare. The European norm has long been 6.1.

The efficiency of Ukrainian agriculture

43. Animal husbandry in our country is becoming less and less popular. The main branches are livestock and poultry

raising. They cover almost half of the livestock production. The dairy industry is a little behind. And another 13% is accounted for by the production of eggs.

44. We rank 8th among chicken exporters

Since the beginning of 2016, Ukraine has earned $82 million from poultry meat exports. At the same time, chicken meat exports increased by 45% in January-July 2016. Most Ukrainian chicken is bought by Iraq, Holland, and Egypt.

45. Ukraine sells corn, wheat, barley, sunflowers, sunflower oil, and sunflower meal on the world market.

These products are the basis of Ukrainian agriculture, Ukrainian farmers built millions of holdings on them.

46. ​​Ukrainian soybeans can feed the EU for 2 years,

or Iran for 4 years, Mexico for more than 3.5 years, and Venezuela for 9 years. But it is also possible to divide our soybean harvest among 24 countries, including even Australia, and feed them for a whole year.

47. Ukraine is in the top five among world exporters of corn

Since the beginning of 2016, we have already exported more than 444 thousand tons of corn.

48. And we are also a very “berry” country

49. For every $1 spent on food, farmers get less than 12 cents for raw materials

It is commodity economies that prevent developing countries, including Ukraine, from achieving real success. Yes, we are leaders in the production and export of sunflower oil. But we sell it for pennies in the form of raw materials, and already developed countries pour our oil into beautiful bottles. The only resource that allows the country to constantly develop is an investment in scientific potential and technology.

50. The most popular agricultural films in the world are

Country (1984), River (1984), Out of Africa (1985), Giant (1956), and The Big Country (1958).

We have released a new issue of the Agribusiness of Ukraine infographic guide, in which we talked about Ukrainian agribusiness in such a bright and understandable way that no one has ever told - 30+ colorful infographics will put the entire atmosphere on the shelves.