Fodder production in Ukraine: Trends, problems and prospects

Abstract

During the years of Ukraine's independence, the provision of fodder to the livestock industry and their effective use remained a difficult and unsolved problem. The military aggression of the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine, economic, geopolitical, climatic instability, global food crisis exacerbated the pre-war problems and led to the emergence of new threats and challenges in fodder production. The purpose of the study is to assess the state and main trends of the feed market of Ukraine, the problems of the feed industry in the context of modern threats and challenges. The research uses generally accepted methods of scientific economic research, in particular: bibliometric, scientific abstraction and hypothesis, systematic and economic analysis, monographic, analysis and synthesis, complex, abstract-logical, induction and deduction, comparison and logical generalization. The main problems of Ukrainian fodder production were considered: the increase in the cost of material resources, energy resources, the increase in the cost of harvesting and storage of domestically produced fodder, the shortage of labor force due to migration and mobilization, extreme climatic conditions that affect the yield of fodder crops, the quantity and quality of fodder, non-compliance with crop rotation, low feed quality, regional redistribution of feed production and consumption, shortage of working capital, problems with reimbursement of value added tax, delays in customs clearance of imported material resources, high inflation, fixed exchange rate, problematic insurance/letter of credit instruments under export contracts, destruction of the main supply chains in Ukraine, change in the geography of exports, blockade of sea ports, high cost of created logistics chains, difficult access to the market of European countries from the point of view of import and product certification, limitation of throughput capacity of European logistics centers, etc. Attention is focused on the problems of fodder production in the de-occupied and front-line territories: a shortage of resources due to the loss of funds and property due to shelling and theft by the Russian military, the destruction of crops, the inability to export products, the death of farm animals due to military actions, damage and destruction of agricultural infrastructure and equipment, the impossibility of conducting technological operations, negative consequences for the land fund as a result of mining, artillery shelling, movement of heavy equipment, etc. The main results of the research can be used for scientific developments and in the practical activities of agricultural producers, assessing the impact of risks and threats on the fodder production industry of Ukraine