The hot and dry summer of 2026 significantly worsened the cabbage yield in the Rivne region, farmer Ivan Zhurzha from the village of Horbakiv in the Babyn community told Suspilne, writes agronews.ua.
According to the farmer, last season the main problem was excess water, which had to be pumped out of the fields, while this year the plants suffered from extreme heat. During transplanting, part of the cabbage was lost, so the harvest, by his estimate, did not even reach half of the usual amount. Some varieties, the farmer noted, performed well, but not all.
Ivan Zhurzha has been growing cabbage for ten years. It all started as a hobby together with his father, and over time it grew into a full-fledged business. The farmer still considers his occupation more of a hobby, and he is helped by relatives: his godfather, brother, sisters and other close ones.
Despite the significant reduction in the harvest, the farm continues to supply fresh vegetables to social institutions. The main buyers of the produce remain schools and kindergartens of the Rivne region, and part of the harvest is sent to other regions of Ukraine.
The difficult and lean year did not deprive the farmer of optimism. Ivan Zhurzha's immediate plans are to expand the area under cabbage and test new varieties resistant to weather anomalies.
In the Chernihiv region, a gardener grew 800 heads of colored cabbage in his own garden