Lower thirds:

00:01 Report by / Max Zander
00:14 Oksana Suvorova / Truck driver
01:07 Oleksandr Ryzhenkov / CEO Agroprime Holding
01:54 Mykola Melnyk / Farmer
02:30 Mykola Melnyk / Melnyk Agro

Script:

((shots of fields, harvesting))

They've been working towards this moment all year.  (Alternative: They've been waiting for this moment all year.)

Oksana Suovorova hauls grain from the fields - a lot is at stake.  

+++ SOT Oksana Suvorova, Truck Driver +++ 
"This is our daily bread. The faster you bring it in, the better. But there are not enough people, the men are gone. Only pensioners and women are left. There are not many women with us. More need to come." 

These days, only half of the machines are out in the field. There is no lack of machinery, but of people. 

Agriculture is now facing a labour shortage of more than 30 percent, especially among men of conscription age.

((guy repairing))  

Women, like Oksana taking up these jobs, are still an exception. 

Oleksander Ryzhenkov runs the business. He tells us the war has hit the industry hard, and it shows, especially now during the harvest.

+++ SOT Oleksandr Ryzhenkov, CEO Agroprime Holding +++ 
"In normal times, everything moves quickly, no stops, one trip to the final unloading point. But when you are unloading into storage and then reloading the following week, and again the week after when vehicles become available — of course you lose efficiency, costs go up, and the cost of production rises."
 
((green house drone, close up veggies, Mykolka walking)) 

We're in western Ukraine. 
 
Here, farmer Mykola Melnyk is trying to tackle the shortage of workers through innovation.

These greenhouses produce tomatoes and other vegetables. But they also serve as a testing ground for new technologies he develops.

+++ SOT Mykola Melnyk, Farmer +++  
"Everything here is also automated. We have underfloor heating throughout — here and in all the greenhouses."  
 
((technology box))  

Today, AI handles many of the daily processes, reducing the need for manual work. 
 
((water thing moving, data on screens, solar panels))  

Irrigation is controlled by AI based on weather and temperature data.  
 
Ventilation is automated too.  
 
The system is designed to provide ideal growing conditions while using as little energy and water as possible.  
 
What started as a way to increase efficiency has become a response to a growing shortage of workers and a way to better prepare for the future.   
 
+++ SOT Mykola Melnyk, Melnyk Agro +++  
"At this point I look at it more as a platform where I can test various robotic systems, develop them, improve my own operation, and eventually benefit other farmers too." 

Ukraine's farmers are seeking solutions to a problem they fear will only get worse as time passes.

((Ukraine's farmers are looking for ways to adapt to a problem they fear will worsen over time and could seriously threaten production.))

Out in the fields it also means putting in extra hours. 

For Oksana it is worth it. 

Because she knows the harvest cannot wait. 

END