29.01.2026

Since the beginning of the full-scale war, Ukraine has actually lost three-quarters of its irrigated areas. However, since 2024, the market has begun to gradually revive: farmers are again looking towards investments in irrigation and returning to the purchase of irrigation equipment. And it’s not just about climate change.

Who is ready to invest in irrigation today, how has its economy changed, why is the competition for water intensifying, and what technological solutions are coming to the fore? 

Loss of irrigation: the scale and cost of restoration

“Currently, the question in the south is: either you irrigate or you don’t grow,” says Igor Bogdanov, Director of Information Technology at A.G.R. Group.

A.G.R. Group acquired a farm in the Mykolaiv region with an existing irrigation system on February 5, 2022. And in fact, before the full-scale war, it had 8 thousand hectares for irrigation. But because of the war, it was not able to fully use it in the first year. Now the company is restoring irrigation.

First of all, we focused on arrays with an area of about 2 thousand hectares in the Gregovskaya, Pervomaiskaya and Partizanskaya communities - this is the most remote irrigation system from the Dnieper (about 40–45 km), which was launched in 2023 and received good results in terms of yield.

2024 passed with minimal restorations in the irrigation sector. This year, the company invested in the restoration of equipment, production facilities, and organizational structure. At the same time, in order to diversify the risks associated with precipitation, a decision was made to restore the irrigation system as much as possible and reach 8 thousand hectares. It is impossible to do this all at once, so a plan has been set for 2026 to increase the irrigation area to 6 thousand hectares.

"Of the 8 thousand hectares that remain irrigated, part of it - about 200 hectares - fell under fortifications. So we had to dismantle three irrigation machines there. For 1,800 hectares, this is the irrigation that requires, in addition to the restoration of the irrigation machines themselves and irrigation equipment, also the restoration of the infrastructure that was destroyed by shelling. These are supply and internal canals, bridges, pumping stations, accumulators, that is, we can assume that we need to build everything from scratch," says Igor Bogdanov.

According to him, no project organization can say exactly how much it will cost. The approximate figure is $4 thousand/hectare. But it is biased and in reality it can be much higher. Therefore, it was decided that irrigation on these 2 thousand hectares will begin to be restored in 2027. And in 2026, the irrigation machines themselves will be restored, plus some of the machines that were completely destroyed will be replaced with new ones. “Currently, we have already restored 4 thousand hectares of the planned for 2026, and three machines have been contracted for 500 hectares from the Ukrainian manufacturer Variant Irrigation (“Variant Agro Bud”). We plan to begin installation in late February or early March, depending on the weather,” says Igor Bogdanov.

Cautious return of investments in irrigation

In 2025, Variant Irrigation (“Variant Agro Bud”) recorded positive developments in the irrigation market for the first time since the start of the full-scale war.

According to the company’s owner, Daniil Shufani, in 2022–2023 this direction remained subsidized for the company. The first signs of recovery appeared in 2024: farmers again began to look closely at investments in irrigation and gradually return to purchases. However, the market is still far from its pre-war scale - today its volume is only 10–20% of the 2021 level.

“Everyone has a need for irrigation, but along with it - fear. Many enterprises have an acute shortage of financing. Banks are reluctant to lend to the eastern and southern regions, especially long-term and capital-intensive projects. Therefore, the issue is not so much in the desire of farmers, but in the logistics of grain sales, bank financing and water infrastructure problems. The state is currently, of course, not investing in the reconstruction of canals and water systems, and without this it is difficult to develop irrigation,” explains Daniil Shufani.

And he adds that the main demand is currently formed by Central Ukraine - Kyiv, Cherkasy, Poltava regions, and partly Dnipropetrovsk. Among the key regions that have a demand for irrigation systems, Odesa region remains. Western Ukraine is still involved in a few places and in small volumes: the moisture deficit is felt less there. However, according to Daniil Shufani’s forecasts, more active interest in irrigation there will appear closer to 2030.

Competition for water

At the same time, the director of Variant Irrigation (“Variant Agro Bud”) Ilya Zhemelinsky notes that since 2024 the irrigation market has undergone a noticeable transformation: internal competition has actually arisen between farmers for access to water.

“For example, a canal or pipeline with a throughput of 1 thousand cubic meters per hour passes nearby. You can install two machines and use 200 cubic meters. But if you don’t do this today, tomorrow your neighbor will take these volumes. In a few years, he can “choose” the entire resource, and then the only alternative will be to build a new pumping station, lay new pipes and work with other water lift levels, and these are completely different costs,” explains Ilya Zhemelinsky.

That is why today even medium and small farms are installing 1–2 irrigation machines not only to stabilize yields in the face of climate change, but also to secure access to water for the future. In 2–3 years, this allows controlling 60–70% of the available water resource.

HarvEast starts each irrigation project with a search for a water source and a detailed calculation of the entire infrastructure — from pumps to logistics. The task is to find a solution that is not only technically possible, but also economically justified.

“And here we never have a single or universal solution: we make water storage tanks, find and restore old reservoirs, and now we are working on a project that will allow us to take water from a quarry. That is, we use all possible options,” says HarvEast CEO Dmitry Skornyakov.

HarvEast is gradually scaling up irrigation, adding about 500 hectares each year. In total, the company has irrigated 1.1 thousand hectares.

A different approach to organizing irrigation was chosen by the Dibrova enterprise, which is part of the Keafield group of companies.

“From the very beginning of the project, we planned to create an irrigation system that would be independent of electricity. Our pumping station runs on diesel. We are also the only users of water, which is very convenient, because we can water and take water as much as we need, and not receive a distribution of volumes between all participants of the HVAC,” says Dmitry Dibrov, a technologist at the Dibrova enterprise.

In 2025, Keafield plans to expand irrigation to two more fields with a total area of about 100 hectares. The project has already been calculated by Variant Agro Bud. In addition, the company is considering installing a drum machine for narrow areas where the use of wide-reaching systems is impossible. In the future, in the cluster with an area of 1.4 thousand hectares, they plan to increase irrigation to 1.2 thousand hectares

The price of irrigation

Let's look at the economics of irrigation. How much has it grown over the past four years?

According to Ilya Zhemelinsky, if there is a water source nearby, investments in irrigation can start at $1.5–2.5 thousand/hectare. But this is rather an ideal scenario, when the water source is nearby, the system was created even before the war, and the farm installs one large machine without additional infrastructure.

In the Prydniprovsky cluster of the Kernel company, the restoration of irrigation using sprinkler machines cost about $1.5 thousand/hectare, says the head of the irrigation department, Oleg Kovalchuk.

“If we count investments in new infrastructure construction, it will be at least $3.5 thousand/hectare, that is, twice as expensive,” says Oleg Kovalchuk.

The cluster has irrigated 1,100 hectares in Dmytrivka (Cherkasy region) and 1,723 hectares in Brovarka (Poltava region). Irrigation is used in corn hybridization areas.

Ilya Zhemelinsky confirms: if the project involves full-fledged investments in infrastructure, the typical cost today is $3,000–3,600/hectare, while before the war it fluctuated within $2,500–3,500/hectare. The increase is explained by the increase in the price of sprinklers and related infrastructure. In the investment structure, infrastructure costs on average take up about 50% of the budget. If the system is built “from scratch” with pipelines laid, but without a pumping station, the share can decrease to 40%.

At the same time, in the current conditions, with a complex infrastructure configuration, individual projects can reach $6,000/hectare. Variant Irrigation also has such cases.

“Despite the high cost, some farms are making these investments. For them, it is economically justified,” adds Ilya Zhemelinsky.

State support as a factor in choice

In 2021, Variant Irrigation was the market leader in terms of the number of sprinklers sold. In 2022, the company planned to grow the irrigation sector by 100%, but the full-scale war radically changed these plans.

Now Variant Irrigation has largely reoriented itself to export markets. Firstly, the domestic irrigation market in Ukraine is only beginning to recover after a sharp decline. Secondly, the decisive factor remains price comparison with imported equipment.

Ilya Zhemelinsky recalls how in 2023 one of the agricultural producers directly stated: without state support, a Ukrainian manufacturer should be at least 30% cheaper than imports.

“In Europe, we compete with large global manufacturers and are often on the same level or even more expensive in terms of price. At the same time, we can offer farmers a better price on the domestic market. The problem is that there is still no full awareness: there are world-class manufacturers in Ukraine in certain segments. Sometimes a farmer gives me an example of an imported manufacturer, and I try to explain that in Ukraine you can buy our equipment for about 9% cheaper than what you name. Whereas in Europe, our solution, on the contrary, would be about 4% more expensive,” explains Ilya Zhemelinsky.

The situation is also complicated by the fact that Variant Irrigation is currently the only Ukrainian manufacturer in the irrigation equipment segment. In such conditions, there is no need to talk about industry cooperation or systemic protection from imports.

For example, in 2024, Variant Irrigation (“Variant Agro Bud”) put about 20 machines on the market, but had the production capacity to cover at least twice the demand of the domestic market. However, within the framework of international grant programs, farmers were supplied mainly with imported equipment, and according to the results of tenders, not a single domestic manufacturer of irrigation equipment supplied a single unit of products.

Formally, this helped farmers survive the difficult period, notes Ilya Zhemelinsky, but the hidden protectionism of foreign manufacturers within the framework of these programs at the same time significantly weakened the positions of Ukrainian companies and narrowed competition in the domestic market - at a time when their own production could become an economic fulcrum.

However, the market is gradually changing. More and more farmers are going to their colleagues, looking at the equipment in operation, talking with those who already operate it, and only then making a decision. In many cases, the choice is made in favor of the Ukrainian manufacturer.

An additional incentive for them was also the state program of compensation of 25% of the cost of domestic equipment within the framework of the “Made in Ukraine” policy. According to Ilya Zhemelinsky, state compensation has a multiplier effect: for every 1 billion UAH directed to farmers, about 1.5 billion UAH is returned to the budget in the form of taxes.

For A.G.R. Group, state compensation has become one of the factors in choosing a supplier of irrigation equipment, because investing in production in the current conditions without such business support is extremely difficult, says Igor Bogdanov.

Dmitry Skornyakov notes that new irrigation systems “from scratch” require investments of $5–5.5 thousand/hectare, and without state compensation have a payback period of 7–8 years, which makes them unattractive for business. On the other hand, modernization of Soviet systems costs half as much — $2.5–3 thousand/hectare — and remains economically justified even without state support.

New solutions for irrigation machines

Ilya Zhemelinsky also calls the advantage of Ukrainian manufacturers flexibility and an individual approach to their customers.

“Both we and our Ukrainian colleagues have projects that we manufacture on special orders for the needs of customers. If they turn to foreign manufacturers who produce thousands of units, they will only be able to receive a finished product,” he says.

For example, technological adaptations of products are now important for customers, which are due to the realities of the state of war in the country.

“Our software controls circular machines via an encoder, which is especially important in conditions of air alarms and active electronic warfare: imported analogues on antennas temporarily do not work. One of our customers purchased a foreign machine, but the supplier constantly postponed the delivery dates of spare parts, and service was limited. The machine was needed for timely irrigation, so the farmer turned to us,” says Ilya Zhemelinsky.

In 2026, Variant Irrigation continues to invest in technological development. The company is working on a new product in the R&D direction - an updated algorithm for controlling circular machines. In particular, it will provide for an open API, connection of weather stations, humidity sensors and data transfer directly to digital farm management platforms.

The plans also include the launch of a new, technically complex line of corner machines, which are currently produced by only two companies in the world. As Ilya Zhemelinsky explains, a corner is a special attachment to a circular machine that unfolds when approaching the corner of the field and additionally waters the sector. Thanks to this, the irrigation level of a square field increases to over 90%.

In Ukraine, four companies already have experience working with corners and are ready to use them in the future. The price is stopping demand. For example, a standard circular machine 500 m long costs about €120 thousand and covers about 80 hectares. Installing a corner requires an additional about €40 thousand, but adds only about 12 hectares. In terms of investment per hectare, corners significantly increase the cost of the project.

Instead, for example, in Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria, corners can occupy 60–80% of the market for circular irrigation machines. It is for these markets that the new line is being launched.

Keafield calculated that installing corners is too expensive an option. Instead, the company is experimenting with the use of artificial intelligence on Variant Irrigation irrigation machines. According to Serhiy Zagrotsky, in 2025 they worked with a project that combines plant development sensors and soil moisture sensors.

“I think that no one in Ukraine has made such a combination with Variant Agro Bud machines. For example, focusing on moisture sensors, we, according to the indicators, watered one sector with a different rate. The sensors provide data on humidity, and artificial intelligence calculates the irrigation rate. Sectors with different irrigation rates were created. This technology allows you to save water,” he adds.

In addition, Variant Irrigation is completing testing of a frontal irrigation machine with GPS navigation, which is being conducted jointly with Kernel. Testing is planned to be completed in March, after which the project will be transferred to the customer.

Market structure is changing, restrictions remain

In addition to technological innovations, deeper structural changes are also taking place in the irrigation market. If until 2022, irrigation was mainly used for cash crops, now the share of projects for vegetable and seed production is increasing. It is these segments that are increasingly ready to invest in infrastructure, because without irrigation, the risks of crop loss are critical, notes Ilya Zhemelinsky.

At the same time, the development of irrigation is hampered by a number of systemic restrictions. One of the key ones is the shortage of technical specialists. According to Dmytro Skornyakov, only 2-3 companies in Ukraine can actually professionally design irrigation systems. Their resources are limited, and demand is consistently high, which automatically slows down the launch of new projects.

The legal status of the lands where irrigation will be installed is no less painful.

“For example, for one of the projects, we have not been able to find a solution with the municipality for a year. We need to lay a pipe on one site, and they don’t have cadastral numbers for this site. The issue is not being resolved, which significantly slows down the implementation of the project,” notes Dmytro Skornyakov.

In general, the land issue is perhaps the main deterrent factor for irrigation, because in Ukraine, almost all fields are “chess boards”, large areas owned by hundreds of shareholders, and the agricultural producer has to negotiate, explain, and agree with everyone. Therefore, in practice, an agrarian who implements irrigation projects has a lot of trouble with each site. The state still has a lot to work on in this issue, notes Dmytro Skornyakov.

We also have complex legislation on legalizing irrigation in accordance with the European Green Deal. For example, HarvEast, having the relevant experience, can deal with these issues. But in order to obtain all the necessary permits, go through hearings, and collect the entire package of documentation, farmers really need to abandon their main activity and deal only with irrigation issues, adds the CEO of HarvEast.

At the same time, market participants agree on one thing: the real development of irrigation in Ukraine will begin after the end of the war. But it is increasingly turning into not only a tool for stabilizing yields in the face of climate change, but also a way to secure access to limited water resources.

Farmers who enter irrigation today are actually creating a competitive advantage for the future, while postponed decisions may mean significantly higher costs or loss of access to water in the future.

Konstantin Tkachenko, Natalia Rodak, “Latifundist.com”