EU suggests €500m for farmers dealing with Ukraine war fallout

The European Commission has proposed 500 million euros (550 million U.S. dollars) in funding to support EU farmers struggling with huge cost increases in fodder and fertiliser due to Ukraine war.

"Russia's war against Ukraine has created a multitude of problems including in relation to global food security," European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said in a statement.

The move, which still required approval from EU member states and the European Parliament, came amid growing alarm about the knock-on effects of the Russian invasion on the global supply of food for vulnerable countries, such as Yemen, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sudan.

The agricultural sector of Ukraine, an important producer of wheat and maize and also the world's leading exporter of sunflower oil – had been hit hard by the conflict, now in its fourth week.

The European Union was to provide 330 million euros to farmers in Ukraine to help them purchase agricultural supplies for harvest production such as fertiliser and fuel for machinery.

The bloc would help Ukraine "continue planting and growing cereals and oilseeds, much needed for themselves and for the world," EU Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski said.

The EU executive had also proposed suspending sustainable farming rules in the bloc to allow EU farmers to grow crops on land that was normally required to be left fallow to protect the environment.

Cash-flow problems for EU farmers, grappling with rising fuel, fertiliser and fodder costs were to be addressed with accelerated payments from the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) budget, the bloc's flagship agriculture subsidy fund.