Partnership with Kernel - Ukraine's Largest Grains Producer and Exporter
We are excited to announce our partnership with Kernel - the largest producer and exporter of grains in Ukraine, the leader of the world’s sunflower oil market, and a major supplier of agricultural products from the Black Sea region to international markets.
“This partnership underscores our collective dedication to addressing the complex challenges facing global food security and agricultural production in one of the world’s major breadbaskets. We are thrilled to continue our partnership in the 2024 year,” says Inbal Becker-Reshef, NASA Harvest Program Director.
Kernel’s extensive agronomic expertise and high-quality field data have been instrumental in supporting NASA Harvest’s efforts to monitor the impact of the war on Ukraine’s agriculture and estimate production in occupied territories, in support of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine.
"We are pleased to have participated in NASA Harvest's initiatives focused on Ukraine in 2023, contributing data and insights that we recognize as crucial in supporting our nation during challenging wartime conditions. Additionally, our pilot project facilitated effective collaboration between Kernel’s scientists and NASA Harvest colleagues toward a common goal of refining production estimates. We eagerly anticipate continuing this partnership in 2024," stated Andriy Pishyy, Chief Information Officer at Kernel.
The partnership was built on a pilot project focused on developing remote sensing based machine-learning approaches to crop type mapping. NASA Harvest maps were validated based on Kernel data and obtained around 90% accuracies in 2022 and 2023 for winter cereals, rapeseed and sunflower.
‘Kernel played a pivotal role in challenging the conventional norms of cooperation between public and private sectors. We are deeply impressed by the dedication and effort exhibited by the Data Science Department throughout our collaboration," remarked Alex Olin, Ukraine Strategic Partnerships Manager.
Together, we look forward to making significant strides in advancing satellite driven agricultural monitoring that can help inform decisions and policies that support Ukraine's agricultural sector and the critical role it plays in global markets and ultimately food security.
Kernel is the largest producer and exporter of grains in Ukraine, the leader of the world sunflower oil market, and a major supplier of agricultural products from the Black Sea region to international markets. The company accounts for about 8% of the world's sunflower oil exports. Kernel delivers its products to over 70 countries. The company is a leader in the introduction of innovations for the agro-industrial complex of Ukraine.