How Ukrainian farmers are restoring soil even in the most difficult times
Drought, war, uncertainty. Three things that every Ukrainian farmer lives with today.
But there is another word that we are talking about more and more often – recovery.
We used to fight everything: the weather, weeds, the soil.
Now we are beginning to understand that fighting does not always mean winning. Sometimes you just have to learn to work with nature.
From savings to philosophy
When the No-till movement began in Ukraine, it was primarily about savings – less fuel, less equipment, less expense.
It was the first step — a conscious one, but not yet complete.
At the time, we did not understand that simply reducing intervention was not enough. We needed to change our thinking.
Today, this is happening naturally. And not because it is fashionable, but because it is necessary.
The climate has become unpredictable, prices unstable, and resources expensive. All that remains under the farmer’s control are his decisions.
And it is these decisions that determine whether the soil will survive.
Restoration as resistance
In recent years, especially since the start of the war, everything has become more acute.
The war destroyed many farms, but at the same time gave rise to a new understanding: restoring the land is also part of resistance.
I know farmers from the Kherson region who are restoring fields on deoccupied land where nothing has been grown for several years and everything has been overgrown with weeds.
After demining, they return there and sow – simply, without tilling the soil.
There are also those in Mykolaiv region who, despite the destroyed infrastructure and craters in the fields, are sowing cover crops.
They do not consider this a business decision.
They simply want to bring the soil back to life.
And this, it seems, is the true meaning of regeneration.
Six principles, countless paths
Minimal soil disturbance, permanent cover, living roots, diversity, animal integration, contextual knowledge — these six principles seem simple. But behind them lies a profound philosophy: do not harm what feeds you.
The last principle is perhaps the most important. Because there are no universal recipes. What works on the sands of Kherson may not work on the black soils of Poltava.
Every farmer has their own path, their own fields, and their own decisions.
Regenerative agriculture is not about prohibitions or who is “right.”
It is about trying to take a step toward understanding.
Some start with cover crops, some with animals, and some simply stop plowing.
But each of them is taking an important step – toward life.
Small steps toward a great recovery
Regeneration is not a slogan.
It’s about people who continue to sow, even when they don’t know what tomorrow will bring.
It’s about those who don’t wait for someone to come and help.
And perhaps it is with such small steps that a great recovery begins – of the land, the people, and the country.