Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Following the technology elements of sugar beet cultivation, the main ones are
plant nutrition and pest (disease and weed) management, together with soil and climat-
ic conditions ensured the increase of crop productivity by 2.3 times—from 17.67 t/ha
in 2000 to 41.08 t/ha in 2012. The area the sugar beets were harvested in the respective
period decreased by 39.9 percent (from 747.0 thousand hectares in 2000 to 448.9 thou-
sand hectares in 2012). The gross production of sugar beets increased by 39.7 percent
(from 13,198.8 thousand tons in 2000 to 18,438.9 thousand tons in 2012). The increase
of sugar beet gross production during this period was due to the increase of their pro-
ductivity. Thus, the tendency of the area optimization under sugar beet crops along
with the yield increase by the intensive use of land resources is observed in Ukraine.
As for wheat production, the yield of the crop increased by 1.4 times—from 1.98
t/ha in 2000 to 2.8 t/ha in 2012. The gross production of wheat increased by 54.6
percent (from 10,197.0 thousand tons the year 2000 15,762.6 thousand tons in 2012).
The increase of wheat gross production is caused by the increase of productivity and
that of the harvested area—by 9.1 percent (from 5161.6 thousand hectares in 2000 to
5629.7 thousand hectares in 2012). Accordingly, the corn yield for grain increased by
1.6 times—from 3.01 t/ha in 2000 to 4.79 t/ha in 2012. The gross production of corn
increased by 5.4 times (from 3848.1 thousand tons in 2000 to 20,961.3 thousand tons
in 2012). The increase of the corn gross production to a large extent is due to the in-
crease of the harvested area by 3.4 times (from 1278.8 thousand ha in 2000 to 4371.9
thousand ha in 2012).
The market condition of agricultural crops remains unattractive for sugar beet
growers (Table 22.2) [12-16]. The competition with other crops (wheat and corn)
pushes the farmers to a situation wherein they have to reduce the sugar beet fi elds.
Thus, the price of wheat increased from $166.5/t in 2011 to $194.6/t in 2012, or 16.9
percent, respectively, for corn—from $170.0/t to $190.3/t, or 12.0 percent, while the
prices of sugar beet decreased from $65.2/t in 2011 to $53.8/t in 2012, or 17.5 percent.
Within a year, the level of wheat production profi tability declined from 17.6 to 11.8
percent, that of corn—from 38.6 to 19.8 percent, and sugar beet—from 36.5 to 15.7
percent, respectively.
TABLE 22.2
The economic efficiency of sugar beet, wheat, and corn production in Ukraine in
the years 2008-2012 (agricultural companies)
%, 2012 in
comparison with
Crops production indices
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2008
2011
Sugar beets
Total cost of 1 t, US $
39.7
39.2
52.6
47.7
46.5
117.1
97.5
Average price of 1 t, US $
42.5
53.7
61.4
65.2
53.8
126.6
82.5
Level of profitability (%)
7.1
37.0
16.7
36.5
15.7
-
-
Wheat
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