Plant protection costs in selected farms in Wielkopolskie Voivodeship

The aim of the conducted study was an evaluation of plant protection products consumption and the cost-effectiveness of their usage in the selected farms in Wielkopolskie Voivodeship. The source material was the results of questionnaire surveys carried out in 2017. The study included farms with an arable land (AL) of over 10 ha. Due to analytical purposes the farms were divided into five groups (I–V) depending on the area of arable land: 10–20, 21–30, 31–50, 51–100 and above 100 ha. The amount of chemical plant protection was varied and depended on the farm size and crop species. The highest consumption of plant protection products, expressed in kg of active substance (a.s.) per area unit, characterised winter wheat cultivation (2.34 kg of a.s./ha), corn and mixed wheat was lower by 12 and 13% (respectively 2.06 and 2.03 kg of a.s./ha), and the lowest was cultivation of winter triticale and spring barley (respectively 1.91 and 1.75 kg of a.s./ha). The cultivation of the analysed species had the highest consumption of herbicides, much smaller of fungicides and the smallest of insecticides. The most favourable value of the cost coverage index was obtained in spring barley cultivation in farms with 21–30 ha of arable land (12.9) and corn cultivation in farms with arable land of 31–50 ha (12.9). The highest yield to cover the costs of chemical protection was allocated to the cultivation of winter triticale (average 11.5%), the lowest in the cultivation of winter wheat (8.6%).