Lidia Hryniv
Department of Economics, Lviv State University
Ukraine has a quarter of the world's chernozems and 56.6 percent of all land in the country is used as arable land, while in the neighbouring counties, such as Moldova and Belarus, such agricultural lands take up 52 percent and 30 percent of the territory respectively. Ukraine has 7.5 percent of the agricultural lands of the CIS countries, 15.1 percent of their arable lands, 6.2 percent of their meadows and 1.6 percent of their pastures. At the same time Ukraine produces over 20 percent of the grain harvested in the CIS countries and about 25 percent of the meat and milk. However, ecological and economic problems in Ukraine have an ever-growing impact on agriculture.
Nationalized agriculture was not able to resolve the problem of food supply and did not ensure any increase in the efficiency of this sector of the economy to the level of the advanced nations of the world. The technocratic concept of the development of the national agriculture complex based on the quantitative growth of technical, hydro-technical, meliorative, and agrochemical factors of intensification of agricultural production, on the application in it of industrial technologies and the maximal utilization of land resources, did not ensure an adequate increase of its effectiveness, crops growth, productivity of livestock, and the improvement of product quality. Instead, it has predetermined excessively negative anthropogenous loads on the environment, and undermined reproductive, sustainable and self-regulating opportunities of the latter.
Conducting modern, ecologically unsubstantiated and biosphere-incompatible agriculture is, as a matter of fact, a destruction and depletion of soil and natural potential in general. Such agriculture, to a large extent, is a source of a great number of diseases caused by the contamination of potable water and produce by agrochemical substances, and by the poor ecological quality of agricultural produce. All this, undoubtedly, requires an entirely new approach to the further development and intensification of production in the national agriculture complex so as to ensure its transition towards the model of sustainable, ecologically safe, and efficient functioning.
A detailed study of the concept of the denationalization and privatization of enterprises, land and housing facilities in the country, a review of the laws of Ukraine "On Privatization of the Property of State Enterprises", "On Investment Activities", "State Programme of Privatization of State Enterprises" and many other legislative and standard regulations permit us to come to a number of undisputed conclusions: namely that the provision's of these documents contain no indications of even slightly oriented approaches aimed at the elaboration of a general economic strategy and programme for the regulation of the relations pertaining to the use of natural resources and the contamination of the environment.
Among state enterprises subject to privatization there are not only those which have a great effect on the development of the consumer goods market, but also those which have a great effect on the state of the environment. Principles of privatization connected with the free transfer of a share of state property to every citizen as well as the privatization of state property by means of the sale of privatization papers, seem to be rather implausible.
The purchase by individuals of privatization papers, without taking into consideration the cost of contamination, possible ecological consequences, and costs for the maintenance of the relevant nature-protecting equipment, will mean that the population of Ukraine voluntarily consents to take over all the problems connected with the state of the environment and relieves governmental agencies of the responsibility for these problems on the understanding that these agencies will ensure the population's enrichment and well-being through privatization. That is, ecology has been omitted from privatization processes, which causes special concern in connection with the superficial and rather thoughtless attitude towards this integral part of the national treasure.
An appraisal of the aims of privatization shows that the value of property does not include the real cost of the plots of land, subsoil and other components of the environment, and this is the most essential defect of privatization in Ukraine.
The transformation of the forms of property and economic activity as a pre-condition for the establishment of a competitive market medium in Ukraine must be implemented as a stage-by-stage process guided and supported by the state.
The demonopolization of state property for land in the share, which was passed into the property of non-state agricultural enterprises and farms, and also into the property of citizens, has been carried already out. This fact is confirmed by the following operations data of the State Land Committee of Ukraine. By 14 November 1997, the denationalization of lands, with the passing of them into the collective property, took place in 9 700 non-state agricultural enterprises. Members of 98.3 percent of the collective agricultural enterprises have received the certificates for land share rights and 5 767 200 citizens have become the owners of such certificates.
The ecological aspect of development is oriented, first of all, towards the renovation of soil covering as the main means of production in agriculture, the preservation of the environment and natural resources, and the improvement of the quality and ecological safety of food products. The problem of balancing branch markets of agricultural products and means of production is combined with several major issues: an improvement of the structure and models of economic activity, an improvement of the usage of nature potential, material, labor and financial resources. As a structural analysis of those initial factors in the formation of the market shows, cardinal changes of payment balance of agriculture first of all depends on the appropriate usage of land resources. The existing state of agriculture testifies to the irrationality of the system of land utilization (Table 1).
Up to 89 percent of agricultural land and over 90 percent of arable land is concentrated in the first group of farm enterprises. Such farms on average have 2 344 hectares of agricultural land, including 1 980 hectares of arable land. At present, this sector has varying estimates of the efficiency of its production, but the high marketability of its produce is its advantage. The private sector of agriculture - horticulture and vegetable gardening - takes up to 10 percent of agricultural land, and accounts for the largest number of farming units. Private plots of land cover 3 323 000 hectares of land, collective orchards 172 000 hectares, vegetable gardens 254 000 hectares, which means that a single average private plot of land has 0.23 hectares; 0.07 and 0.09 hectares respectively. By comparison: a German farm has 31.9 hectares of land including 19.2 hectare of arable land.
The number and size of agricultural enterprises in the collective sector, which were formed in the past in conformity with the concept of concentration and the specialization of production, must be changed under present conditions in favor of the new models of management. Only those agricultural enterprises which produce the greatest output per unit of land resources can be considered as large-scale ones.
The transition to market structures in agriculture in Ukraine takes place against a background of the deterioration of the economic situation in the agricultural subcomplex as a whole. In 1992, the produce revenue to the state budget decreased, which negatively influenced foodstuff supplies for the population. The purchase of grain did not exceed 14 million tonnes (while 17-18 million tonnes are required) and decreased in comparison with the previous year by 0.5 million tonnes. Accordingly, the state lessened the purchase of sunflowers, sugar beets, potatoes, vegetables, watermelons and grapes. The same tendencies were observed in the livestock-breeding sector of the agricultural subcomplex. During 1992, the state reduced the total number of cattle in the collective subsector by 1 392 000, pigs by 1 541 000, sheep by 806 000, and poultry by 23 million. Moreover, as a consequence of the reduction of imports of veterinary preparations, the loss of cattle and poultry increased.
Certainly, it is not possible to stop these tendencies of production recession without radical land reform. That is why the state initiated land reform by the adoption of a number of the legislative and standard regulations and by making an inventory of land of all categories. Relations connected with the establishment and activity of peasant (farmer's) households are stipulated by laws "On Ownership", "On the Priority of Social Development of a Village and Agroindustrial Complex in the National Economy", "On Business Undertakings", "On Collective Agricultural Enterprise", by the legislation on land, other legislative acts, as well as by the law "On Peasant (Farmer's) Household".
By the beginning of 1993, there were 14 500 peasant (farmer's) households established in Ukraine, to which over 290 000 hectares of agricultural land was allotted. The Ukrainian State Fund for the Support of Peasant (Farmer's) Households was apportioned money for this. Part of this money was used to help farmers to purchase equipment, seeds, plant protection means, etc. The following market structures are functioning: 6 agroindustrial stock-exchanges, 143 broker's offices, 20 consulting and other intermediary organizations, joint-stock commercial agroindustrial bank "Ukraine" with acorresponding network of institutions on sites (26 boards of directors and more than 500 branches).
The Conversion of the collective farms into collective agricultural enterprises (CAE) did not give the expected results, as this process was a formal one. But the fact is that the former collective farms just "changed their signboards" and the old methods and forms of management remained. At present, a number of consulting firms are working in the sphere of privatization and the restructurization of agrarian enterprises, among which are the "Ronko" company and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
The project of agricultural land sharing, which is being undertaken by the consulting corporation "Ronko", is carried out on the basis of the interstate agreement between Ukraine and the USA, and is financed by the US Agency of International Development (USAID) The project was started in Sumy province in October 1995. Now about 500 agricultural enterprises participate in the programme. Its strategic tasks are the issuance of state regulations on private property rights for land to the employees of the enterprise, and the creation of the optimal system of land use; solutions to the problem of debts in the former enterprise with the subsequent establishment of a new economic structure of market type; and the provision of an enterprise with working capital by looking for money sources within the enterprise and through outside (home and foreign) investments. The realization of the privatization of the land project, and the reorganization of the CAE was commenced by the International Finance Corporation in November 1995 in Donetsk province. About 30 farms, now take part in the project; financial support is provided by the British Fund "Know -How" - a governmental organization established with the aim of providing the countries of Central and Eastern Europe with technical assistance. But it should be mentioned that financial injections into the farms, acting on the basis of the projects of these companies, are not made as "Ronko" and the IFC provide only consulting services. The process of farm reorganization is being conducted in conformity with their methods with the assistance both of their specialists and Ukrainian professionals on agriculture, land resources, taxation administration, etc. The programmes function within the limits of the legislation of Ukraine currently in force.
There is no land market for agricultural purposes in Ukraine yet. According to existing legislation, agricultural land cannot be considered as an object for mortgage, nor can it be an object of buying and selling. According to the Presidents decree, it is permitted to privatize lands of non-agricultural purpose (i.e., the lands for industrial and other economic sites). The lack of an agricultural land market has adverse affects in Ukraine. It is an unfortunate that the prospects for optimism in the near future are very poor as the communist majority in the Ukrainian Parliament is vetoing the required legislation. The existing farmsteads have been organized using reserve lands as well as land sharing. It means that the farmers have to work on a land of worse quality and thus the indices of their effectiveness are actually distorted.
With the adoption in 1992 of the Ukrainian Law of Ukraine "On Peasant (Earner's) Households", the legal status of a free businessman farmer was ensured. But Ukrainian farming has its specific traits; first of all, concerning the provision of the main means of production, the majority of farms got their initial production potential in the form of obsolete (sometimes written off) means of production when they separated from the collective farms in the process of privatization. The problems of land privatization and the legislatively limited dimensions of plots of land have not been solved yet. The establishment of a farm demands a considerable "starting" capital. But the majority of those potential farmers does not have it, and money previously saved was reduced as a result of inflation. So, in addition to the property share, the farmer may count on a banking credit when he leaves the collective farm. But the existing rates of interest are too high. That is why, while determining the basic trends of the agrarian policy, scientists warn against "all-round farmerization" as it may lead to a decrease in the national commodity production. An investigation of the prerequisites and methods of farming development testifies to the following three trends its in formation:
- on a new basis (on the specially allotted plots of land);
- on the basis of the subsidiary small-holdings of the population by way of the expansion of their plots of land; and
- on the basis of the property and land shares of peasants, derived from the Collective Agricultural Enterprises, state farms and other enterprises.
Legislative favours the establishment of peasant (farmer's) households on a new basis. But, taking into consideration the lack of sufficient financial, material and technical resources, the development of farming started by way of their establishment on the basis of the subsidiary smallholdings of the population.
The improvement of land relations and the development of new forms of economic activity is the main problem of economic reform in the agricultural sphere. As the analysis shows, in 1991-1995 there have been no essential changes in the structure of land usage. Up to 10 percent of the total area under crops was used in private households. The ratio of rural farms (farmsteads) is insignificant. They used up to 500 000 hectares of arable land. A characteristic feature of the private sector of the agricultural economy in the last four years is the growth of areas under grain crops: from 194 to 841 000 hectares in farmsteads, and from 4.3 to 334 000 hectares in private farms. At the same time, grain crop productivity, naturally, was lower in the public sector. A comparative analysis of land use for grain production does testify in favour of private farms (farmsteads) (Table 2).
The situation in livestock breeding is somewhat different: the ratio of the private sector in 1994 attained 42 percent and 35 percent of the level of 1991. While there was a total reduction in production by 26.6 percent during this period, the growth in private sector attained 30.9 percent. If in 1991 the farmsteads were developing more intensely in western regions then in 1992 the center of development moved to the eastern regions, namely Mykolayiv (2 059), Odessa (1 285), Kherson (657), also Donetsk (870) and Dnipropetrovsk (768). This testifies that farming is developing in all regions of Ukraine.
In January 1997, the number of rural farms (farmsteads) in Ukraine attained 35 400 legal entities, which is 600 more than in early 1996. Farmers used 835 000 hectares of agricultural land (or about 2 percent of total land), including 765 000 hectares of arable land. Out of more than 35 000 farms in Ukraine, about 38 percent of them are located in the southern Mykolayiv, Odessa, andKherson regions. On average, one rural farm (farmstead) in Ukraine has 24 hectares of agricultural land, including 22 hectares of arable land.
Of increasing importance in Ukraine is the acquisition of private farming units run by individuals on the basis of the free transfer into the individual's private ownership of plots of land with an area ranging from 0.6 to 1.0 hectare in conformity with the Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine "On the Privatization of Plots of Land" dated 26 December 1992.
In recent years, the area of land in these farming units has increased significantly, as has the output of produce. While in 1990, 6.5 percent of arable land used by farming units owned by individuals produced (in comparative prices of 1996) 24.8 percent of total national gross output of crop production and 34 percent of livestock production, or 29.4 percent together, in 1997 14.2 percent of such arable land yielded 48.6, 65.4, and 55 percent of production respectively (Table 3).
The liberalization in the Ukrainian economy caused the formation of free prices for agricultural production as well. According to article seven of the Ukrainian Law "On prices and price-forming", free prices and rates are introduced for all kinds of agricultural production, with the exception of that regulated by the government when it comes under governmental ordering or governmental contract. The governmental regulation of prices is performed through the fixing and application of governmental financial and regulated prices and rates. Within the realm of free price functioning, there is control of their authorized application, as well as the necessity to adhere to the requirements of antimonopoly legislation in Ukraine. Those agricultural products sold in Ukrainian food markets depend on the demand, and the proposed input prices of these products are transformed into output prices due to market regulation. However, existing legislation, far from being perfect, distorts the process of the market regulation of prices for agricultural products. Thus, the legislation needs improvement. In the agriculture of Ukraine, the level of prices for products, for Work, and for services should be in accordance with the necessity to recuperate production expenditure as well as to at least guarantee the income needed for continued production. Thus, today it is urgent to adopt changes and some additions to the Ukrainian Law "On prices and price formation". These changes should envisage using a system of the governmental regulation of prices, specifically the introduction of supporting (mortgaging) prices as well as equivalent prices for agricultural products. Prices for agricultural products should be based on the principle of combining the market with governmental regulation. Moreover, the share of barter operations has increased due to the deepening of the payment crisis in Ukraine. Barter operations are carried out with considerable economic losses due to the artificial "winding" (increasing) prices for fuel, fertilizers, etc. by the agent companies. An effective means of acting against the increase of barter operations should be the market of material and technical resources.
The introduction of a commercial mechanism for the linking of commodity producers with suppliers and traders, direct contacts with the processing enterprises, commodity stock-exchanges, fairs, and auctions become an important trend in the development of the market for foodstuffs and the market for agricultural products and inputs.
A key role in this process is played by the Ukrainian Universal Stock-Exchange, which was entrusted with the task of establishing market prices for agricultural raw-materials and foodstuffs; material and technical resources for the agricultural complex; the development of foreign economic connections; and the establishment of joint-ventures with foreign partners.
The land area of Ukraine is 60.4 million hectares. Predominantly rich fertile soils and favourable climatic conditions have ensured a very high degree of economic development in 92 percent of the territory. The area of agriculturally developed lands exceeds 70 percent, and this index is one of the highest in the world. The same applies to the arable land area (56 percent). Ukraine has the world's greatest area of chernozems.
Due to a shortage in reserves of vacant land, the allocation of agricultural lands for production facilities continues. For this reason the overall loss of farmlands in the last 30 years has exceeded two million hectares.
The intensification of agriculture, an increased technogenous load on land resources, and the uncontrolled use of chemicals with a low level of technological culture has resulted in an accelerated degradation of the soil and a decline in its fertility. In 25 years, the humus content in soils in Ukraine dropped from 3.5 to 3.2 percent, the area of acid soils increased by 30 percent, and that of saline and leached soils increased by 25 percent. Nearly 200 000 hectares of land are destroyed annually; the level of their recultivation is inadequate.
Land is being polluted with heavy metals and other components of industrial waste, and the residues of fertilizers and pesticides are accumulating in the soil at a high rate. According to our calculations, agriculture pollutes about 60 percent of land resources and approximately 45-48 percent of reservoirs. Its "contribution" to general the pollution of the atmosphere fluctuates at between 35 and 40 percent.
More than 4 million tonnes of fertilizers and 175 000 tonnes of chemical pesticides are used annually in agriculture. Of 170 pesticides used in Ukraine, 49 are particularly harmful as highly toxic, supercumulative and stable. The tendency towards a decrease in the use of chemicals and an increase in the use of biological plant protection has begun to appear in recent years. The Chernobyl accident resulted in the contamination by radionucleides of 4.7 million hectares of farmland, including 3.1 million hectares of arable land. Thus, the current stage of the development of agriculture in Ukraine is characterized by complications in the ecological situation: from 1961 to 1995 eroded arable land on farms of all categories increased by 31 percent (from 8.1 to 10.6 million hectares); humus content in soils decreased, other crisis phenomena were observed (swamping and souring of soils, over-concentration of the upper stratum of soils, contamination of the environment by agrochemicals, harmful matters, etc.).
In accordance with the data on land use, in 1995 eroded (washed away) agricultural land in all categories of farms in Ukraine made up 13.3 million hectares (31.8 percent of their total square), including slightly eroded - 66.5 percent; and medium- and strongly eroded, 33.5 percent. Degraded land extended by 19.4 million hectares (46.2 percent of their total area), their main area being concentrated in the southern (41.7 percent), and northern and central Steppe (33.1 percent). Due to the lack of protection, 450 million tonnes of soils (16.6 t/ha of total eroded lands) are being lost in Ukraine annually because of water and wind erosion. According to our estimates, economic losses from the erosion of soils of all categories make up KRB 22.6 billion in accordance with the adduced expenditures, and KRB 2 billion in accordance with the value of the loss of conventional net profit. To overcome the harmful impact of erosive processes, now they master soils protective systems of farming, which include contour-land-reclamation the organization of territory, complexes of anti-erosive measures, rational crop rotations, systems of fertilizer application, special soil processing technologies, and integrated plant protection from pests and diseases in all natural zones of Ukraine.
The problems of rational utilization, protection from contamination, increasing productivity and the improvement of physio-chemical properties in soils is becoming more and more acute in Ukraine. The exhausting use of lands and the large-scale application of high-power agricultural machinery have had an adverse effect on the mechanical structure of soils, reducing humus content and soil fertility. The condition of agricultural land has deteriorated due to the low quality of land reclamation works. Of special concern is the contamination of agricultural lands with chemical compounds, technogenous materials, etc. This is the reason for the accumulation in soils of great amounts of toxic substances, which have a negative effect on the quality of plant growth and livestock farming. This problem has become much more urgent in recent years due to the increased influence of human activity on the soil covering, particularly due to large-scale land reclamation, the uncontrolled application of mineral fertilizers, chemical agents, methods of pest, plant and animal diseases control, and increased physical loads on soils from agricultural machinery. It should be noted that soils in Ukraine are characterized by a high natural productivity, and it is extremely important to preserve these soils for future generations.
Within this context special stress needs to be placed on the issue of the governmental support of biological farming in Ukraine. It should be noted that at present the attitude towards the problem of biological farming in the country is rather reserved. While only five years ago some coordinated research in various aspects of biological agriculture was still conducted, now there is no such universal scientific programme for the solution of this problem. Moreover, this task in general is not regarded any more as a first priority problem. Yet almost 25 percent of the population in Ukraine is in need of ecologically pure food products due to the consequences of Chernobyl disaster.
Thus, it has now become necessary to create by Government resolution favorable conditions (including governmental subsidies) for farmers to produce ecologically clean produce. It is desirable that "biological" farmsteads should specialize in the production of vegetables, potatoes, buckwheat, and raw materials for the manufacture of baby food. A network of speciality stores should be established for the sale of biologically clean products.
The optimization of the ratio between crop- and livestock production is the most important condition for the development of agricultural production in Ukraine. A prerequisite for the establishment of a strong fodder base, which could ensure a year-long supply of biologically sound, nutrient-balanced and cheap fodder for the needs of livestock breeding, is the introduction of a sustainable system of agriculture. This system has acquired its greatest development in those farmsteads in Ukraine which, in order to protect the soil, used bean cultures and lupine in the production of fodder.
On the whole, there are very few "biological" farmsteads in Ukraine. First of all, this is connected with the fact that such mixed farmsteads, maintaining in their activity a balance between crop and livestock farming, do not have the appropriate governmental support.
In addition, a very serious obstacle the way to the balanced development of farmsteads is the absence of a stable market for trade and procurement-supply links. While farmsteads in the south of Ukraine specialize mainly in vegetable growing and have stable relations with processing enterprises, such relations still remain a problem in other regions of the country, particularly in the mountainous regions of Ukraine, with widely spread dairy and livestock-fattening farms. Private farmsteads much too often face problems with the sale of their products due to the shortage of mini-dairy processing or cheese-making companies, wool-processing enterprises, etc.
An analysis of scientific work carried out in 1992-1997 concerning the implementation of biological methods in farming in the activity of farmsteads, made it possible to find reserves for the sustainable development of these farmsteads in Ukraine.
1. In livestock breeding farms with a considerable ratio of eroded lands, it is expedient to keep reserve fields permanently under perennial grass, especially alfalfa. This will help to avoid expenses for annual soil tillage and grass planting, and without reducing the productivity of the land will ensure the use of the valuable agrotechnical, ecological and phytosanitary properties of perennial grass.
2. The use of reserve fields, of corn for green fodder and silage, and their location, as well as the location of other fields closer to the livestock breeding farms, will enable a reduction in expenses for the transportation of organic fertilizers and fodder containing a high level of moisture to be reduce by about 200 percent. Immediately adjacent to the farms, reserve corn fields released previously can be used for winter cultures and green fodder. This will create a green conveyor with minimal transport expenses.
3. For small grain and grain, and beet producing farmsteads, purchasing manure is an effective measure for increased soil productivity, and the use of straw for fertilizing will also help to save resources. In such case, the need for manure and mineral fertilizers to ensure the planned level of crops and the stabilization of soil fertility will be reduced correspondingly by 50 percent.
4. In larger farms with sufficient volumes of production of manure, high production intensive grain-tillage rotations should be provided on those soils located in the vicinity of livestock breeding farms for growing the most valuable profitable cultures. Taking into consideration a high saturation with tilled cultures of these crop rotation and compensation for sharply negative balance of humus, high doses of manure are applied (17-20 t/ha) - practically all organic fertilizers are produced in the farm. Under such conditions, along with the balanced volume of humus in soil, the optimal balance of nutrient matter is created, while the need for mineral fertilizers is essentially reduced.
5. It is necessary to apply agrotechnologies with a maximal use of biological nitrogen through both the balanced use of bean cultures in crop rotation, especially of perennial grass, and through the increased application of biopreparations for improving the nitrogen fixation and crop yield of grain cultures, for example by 3-5 centner/ha at minimal expenses.
Ukraine is among those European countries with the lowest water reserves. Potential local resources of surface and underground water total 60 cubic km, decreasing in recent years due to low rainfall to 37 cubic km, and on account of run-off from adjacent territories, 94 and 63 cubic km respectively. The specific index of water availability from local water resources in Ukraine is one of the lowest in the ex-USSR: about 1 000 cubic m per year per capita.
River flow is unevenly distributed over time and area. The Donetsk-Dnieper and southern regions, which account for nearly 60 percent of the population and where the most water-consuming sectors of the national economy are located, receive less than a third of the entire local run-off. A cascade of six large man-made water basins on the Dnieper river built between the 1950s and 1970s has created a reserve of water supply for the industrial centres of the Donbas and Kryvyy Rih regions and for the irrigation of large land masses in the Black Sea coast and Crimea areas. This, however, has also brought about enormous adverse consequences. Over 500 000 hectares of fertile land have been inundated and thus taken out of agricultural use. Moreover, the lands adjacent to the water basins (about 100 000 hectares) became underflooded. Besides, these basins are deteriorating by stagnation processes, the build-up of harmful substances, waterplants, and the deterioration of banks (a length of 1 400 km of banks are in need of stabilization). The all-round chemicalization of agriculture in Ukraine has caused the most appreciable damage to the surface and underground resources and springs. A heightened content of nitrates, pesticides and herbicides is observed in practically all reservoirs, and many open reservoirs suffer from eutrophication. In other words, there are blue-green water-plants intensively developing in them.
The radiological contamination of ground water, which in its turn has an effect on the contamination of agricultural produce, has had a very negative effect on the general ecological situation in Ukraine. For this reason, more than 119 hectares of forage lands were withdrawn from agricultural use.
However, the results of scientific research show that chernozems as high quality soils have the highest "immunity" against radiation contamination in the sense that the produce grown on such soils has the lowest indices of such contamination regardless of the level of contamination in these zones of ground water or air.
A trend towards a decline in the quantities of the emission of pollutants into the atmosphere has emerged in recent years, but their quantities are still high enough to result in an increased level of air pollution in many regions of Ukraine.
Regretfully, a lack of forested areas and the operation of numerous metallurgical and thermal power plants in Ukraine have turned the country into one of those which burn up the planet's oxygen. From 1986 to 1994, over 100 million tonnes of harmful substances were emitted into the air by all sources of pollution. Major sources of such pollution are the power industry, metallurgy, coal, chemical and petroleum-chemical industries, as well as motor transport. The problem of the retention of gaseous and liquid substances remains rather serious: 29.9 percent of them from stationery pollution sources are retained, while the ratio of retention of solid pollutants is as high as 93.2 percent.
Emission of harmful substances into the atmosphere by stationery sources of contamination in agriculture in Ukraine, in 1996 made up 51 400 tonnes, which in comparison with 1995 decreased by 18 800 tonnes. On average, one stationary source in agriculture emits 17.7 tonnes of harmful substances into the atmosphere. The proportion of gaseous and solid substances in these emissions makes up 77 percent.
The main condition for ensuring the sustainability of agriculture is the full compliance of agronature use with landscape-zonal peculiarities of nature organization. As a result of erosive processes and a lack of biofertilizers, contemporary agrocoenoses have a negative balance of energy, organic matter, some important elements of nutrition, and above all, of nitrogen and phosphor. This leads, as stated above, to the degradation of soils, and thus to the deterioration of agrolandscapes stability potential. On the whole, it should be noted that during recent years the qualitative parameters of practically all oils in Ukraine have become markedly worse. The deterioration in quality of the most valuable and widely distributed Ukrainian varieties of chernozems is of major concern. Investigations show that they are very susceptible to techno-anthropogenous impact.
So, as a result of protracted destruction, the humus content declines, its mobility increases, the content of waterproof aggregates decreases in the humus horizon, and the soil structure turns from a granular into a clotted-powdery texture.
Through incorrect agroecosphere use, 11 million tonnes of humus, 0.5 million tonnes of nitrogen, 0.4 million tonnes of phosphor and 0.7 million tonnes of potassium are taken away with soil annually. Each year ecological-economic losses from the erosion of soils make up 9.1 billion hryvnyas or US$2.3 billion.
The topicality of this problem became aggravated during recent years as a result of the increase of the negative impact of agroecosphere use on the ground surface, namely the large-scale introduction of sprinkling and dry land reclamation, the uncontrolled application of mineral fertilizers, the application of chemical means and methods in combating agricultural plant and animal pests and disease control, and increasing the physical loads of agricultural equipment on soils. The theoretical and practical essence of the ecologically optimal bioproductivity of agrolandscapes and the sustainable development of the entire agroecosphere consists, in our opinion, of four large blocks of problems: the cognition of the biochemical organization of agroecosphere; the regulation of anthropogenous loads on the basis of the ecological-agrogeochemical division of agricultural territories; the determination of maximum permissible levels of various pollutants; and the setting up of geoinformation and expert-modeling systems for the management of bioproductivity. As the agroecosphere appears to be an essential (major) part of the biosphere, the preservation of its sustainability is equal to the preservation of the sustainability of the biosphere in general.
Thus, the sustainable development of agriculture can only be achieved on the basis of the theory of ecologically optimal bioproductivity, and on the basis of its practical application. Firstly, the optimization of crops cultures is based on the criteria that predicted ecological losses from the pollution of the environment permits the redistribution of subsidies which ensure stable profits in agricultural regions. Secondly, the natural biochemical cycles of various elements permit the selection of the most optimal regions for growing a particular type of crop. Thirdly, agricultural production on the basis of the parameters of ecologically optimal bioproductivity, which combines ecologically required yield with a minimization of negative ecological effects, preserves soil as the main natural resource of agrolandscapes.
With the aim of preventing soils from dehumification of soils soil-protective systems of farming, optimal crop rotation, etc have now been applied. To increase the balance of nitrogen in soils, thus ensuring their stability, biohumus is used as an ecologically safe fertilizer, generated by way of the bioconversion of manure and other organic waste by earthworms. Contour-land reclamation and the mosaic organization of the territory, as well as biologization which takes into consideration bioclimatic potential and soil-landscape factors, are the peculiarities of soil-preventive systems of farming in mountains.
In general, the optimization of agricultural land structure and the formation of highly-productive, ecologically stable agrolandscapes is more and more topical. For this reason the destruction of arable lands has declined to 50 percent, the proportion of meadows, hayfields and pastures has increased to 17-20 percent, forested areas to 20 percent and the of nature reserves have reached the world's average level (5 percent).
Determining the degree of protection necessary not only for the genofund, but also for the coenofund of the biosphere, stipulates the development of agroecosystem research, which makes provision for the inventory and valuation of agroecosystems in accordance with natural resources and the diversity of life in the system. Preservation and an efficient system of reproduction of biodiversity in agroecosystems is the pledge of achievement of ecological stability and high productivity.
Great harm to biodiversity and the ecological stability of the phytocoenoses in planting in Ukraine was caused by technogenous-intensive systems of agrarian production. The mass use of agrochemicals, high tonnage equipment and pesticides, and ignoring the close connections between the phytosphere, zoosphere and pedosphere led to a considerable deterioration in biodiversity and, as a result, to the appearance of a pronounced ecological disbalance and the reduction of agroecosystem productivity. The use of ecologically harmful agrochemicals has had a negative impact and a decrease in the biodiversity in the phytocoenoses of meadows (fields), and, correspondingly, on the deterioration of their stability and the quality of cultivated forage for livestock breeding and its produce.
In this aspect we should talk not only about ecological, but also about socio-economic loss. This became apparent in the all-round contamination of subsoil waters by stable residua of pesticides, heavy metals, and highly active fluorine plus an increase of toxicological danger from cultivated agricultural produce for the whole biota, and above all for human beings. Grasshoppers, butterflies, and bumblebees disappeared as a resdult of the phytocoenoses.
Radiation pollution, caused by the consequences of the Chenobyl accident, exposes agriculture and the population to a great danger. The main contributor to radiation in the nearest zone (Kyiv, Zhytomyr regions) is made by cesium; 134-137 isotopes; over 80 percent. Beyond the bound of the 30 kilometers zone, on the territory of "cesium spots", the contribution of these isotopes is close to 100 percent. General square of pollution of Ukraine by cesium-137 the levels higher than I ci/km2, makes up approximately 37 000 km2, including from five to 15 ci/km2 - 1960 km2, from 15 to 40 - 820 km2, over 40 ci/sq.km2 - 640 km2 among the polluted territories; agricultural lands make up 3.5 million hectares, forests - 11 million hectares; 32 districts of six regions suffered from radiation to different extent. Average content of cesium - 137 in soils exceeds 5 ci/sq.km in 150 inhabited areas, in 22 of them it attains 15 ci/km2.
Special concern is caused by the contamination of agricultural lands by chemical compounds, and technogenous substances from industry. As a result, toxic substances which have a negative impact on the quality of vegetable and animal produce accumulate in soil stratum. In many districts in Ukraine, the productivity of the land has been markedly reduced owing to the bad quality of sprinkling and dry land reclamation.
Sprinkling land irrigation has a negative impact on chernozems. It leads to consolidation of the humus horizon, the alkalization of water extract, and an increase in Ph value of 8-8.5, secondary already salinized stratum with gradual increase of toxic salts content, increase of extremely toxic soda content, secondary superficial salinization while watering with sewage, etc. As a result of industrial activity in Ukraine, there are about 12 million tonnes of mountain rocks and industrial waste accumulated on the ground surface, which occupied 100 000 hectares of lands lost by agriculture. A number of specific industrial establishments led not only to reduction of agricultural land areas, but also caused a loss of considerable areas of agricultural lands, and forests and the removal from the latter of arboreal resources from agricultural circulation. These are, first of all, the so-called protective zones of transport communications and of pipelines, and electricity transmission lines of international significance.
All this has a negative effect on the level of ecological safety of agricultural products and, therefore, on the state of the Ukrainian population's. Health should be noted that this population is informed very little about the contamination of agricultural products due to the inefficient work of relevant governmental agencies. Thus, while the level of radiation contamination of agricultural products is regularly monitored by Sanitary-Epidemiological Stations, which have their branches at every food market, the level of contamination by chemical compounds and technogenous materials is rather insufficiently checked by governmental agencies. Only public ecological organizations work in this sphere.
At present, there is no integrated ecological policy at the national level in Ukraine, which would ensure the sustainability of agriculture. Some separate ecological measures as to the development of agriculture were unessential and, thus, inefficient. Only on 5 March 1998, by the Resolution of the Supreme Council of Ukraine No. 188, were the Main Directives of the state policy of Ukraine in the branch of environmental protection, natural resources use, and ensuring ecological security, confirmed. In these the ecological problems of agriculture were considered.
After the declaration of Ukrainian independence, the Ministry of Environmental Protection was established, which, together with the Ministry of Agriculture, dealt with partial ecological problems in agriculture. In 1995, the Ministry of the Environmental Protection and Nuclear Security of Ukraine was established.
A number of legislative regulations, which regulate safe nature use in agriculture have been adopted in Ukraine since 1991. These are as follows:
- Law "On the Environmental Protection" of June 25, 1991;
- Forest Code of Ukraine;
- Code of Ukraine on Mineral Resources;
- Water Code of Ukraine; and
- Land Code of Ukraine;
No. 785 provisions on the State Monitoring of the Environment; confirmed by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on 23 September 1993; No. 81 provisions on the Public Control in the Branch of Environmental Protection; Confirmed by the order of the Ministry of die Environmental Protection of 4 August 1994; Law of Ukraine: "On the Legal Regime of the Territory which Suffered from the Radioactive Pollution as a Result of the Chernobyl Accident" of 27 February 1991; Law of Ukraine "On Ecological Research" of 9 February 1995;
Law of Ukraine "On Payment for Land" of 19 September 1996; Law of Ukraine "On the Protection of Plants" of 1998; Decree of the President of Ukraine "On the Guidelines for the Development of the Agroindustrial Complex of Ukraine" of 29 April 1998. Unfortunately, these documents do not even mention the issue of ecology in agriculture, and say nothing about its sustainable development.
However, against a background of radical changes in land relations, the system of control over the ecologically safe and economically effective use and renovation of the top soil, has almost completely disappeared in the country. In fact, now the State does not have any influence upon the methods used in the utilization of land which is State, collective or private property. They have not, as yet, determined legislatively the responsibilities of owners, users and tenants of the plots of land as to how to temporarily set aside eroded and other degraded land in order to ensure its protection and the resumption of its productivity. The law "On Payment for Land" does not work in part of use of means which are received by the national and local budgets from payment of land tax, for land protection, preservation, and the resumption of soils' fruitfulness. Payers of land tax are still not informed as to what this tax is spent on.
In conformity with the resolutions No. 661of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine of 20 August 1993; "On the Confirmation of the Provisions on Soils Monitoring" of 23 September 1993; No. 785; "On the Confirmation of the Provisions on the State Monitoring of the Environment", by the Decree of the President of Ukraine No. 1118/85 "On All-Embracing Agrochemical Passport System of Lands of Agricultural Destination" of 2 December 1995, and as a result of the realization of these works, a considerable amount of information has been stored. Nevertheless, the provision of scientific methodology, as well as the analysis of the results of the information obtained, and the creation of corresponding databases is still insufficient.
For the improvement of activities concerning soil monitoring, and their ecological state, and for the elaboration of standards, technical conditions, norms of agrochemical application, criteria for the evaluation of the ecological-agrochemical state of soils, generalization and analysis of the results obtained, the Ministries of the Agroindustrial Complex should organize a comprehensive system of the monitoring of the state of the environment and the productivity of the soil. For the fulfilment of the decree of the President of Ukraine (No. 34/96 of 17 February 1996) and the instructions of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (No. 22-1633/2 of 19 August 1996) the State Committee on Land elaborated the draft of the National Programme of Land Protection for 1996-2010. But with current organization dispersed between institutions which are not able to implement the system, without a complex approach towards the solution of this complicated problem, it is not possible to realize this programme. That is why for the elaboration of the scientific-methodical and practical-technological basis of protection, it is necessary to organize the Department of Soils Protection. The law on payment for land must be the financial basis of the Department. In conformity with this law, considerable funds have been received by the State on different levels.
The problems of financially ensuring the ecologization of agriculture in Ukraine today are very serious. In 1997, only 58.3 percent of the anti-epizootic measures were financed, 38.4 percent of the State programme of selection in planting, 49.3 percent of the State programme for selection in livestock breeding, 26.3 percent of pre-root improvement of lands, 27.8 percent of the replenishment of the Fund for support of farms, and 6 percent of the support of the production of livestock breeding produce of the annual amount put into the State budget.
Though in general the existing legislative basis has already created a comparatively favorable legal field for the activization of the ecologization of agrarian policy, it can not be considered to be perfect and reliable enough. In addition to the laws concerning agrarian policy which are currently in force, it is extremely important to introduce amendments into the Land Code of Ukraine which would accelerate a solution for environmental problems on an up-to-date basis.
In conformity with the Main Directives of Ukrainian state policy in the branch of environmental protection, natural resources use and the ensuring of ecological security (1998), the following is stipulated:
- Carrying out of those requirements concerning ecological security in the system of agricultural land use;
- ensuring a broadened resumption of the productivity of soils by means of the formation and realization of a system of soil and nature protection measures; ensuring the ecologically sound use of pesticides and agrochemicals; the formation of a mechanism for the economical, administrative and criminal responsibility of those who violate ecological regulations;
- and the elaboration of nature protection measures on the basis of the requirements of international legislation and the intensification of their role in agriculture.
The following is necessary for the achievement of these goals:
- to carry out a complex ecological-economic evaluation (regional) of the territory of Ukraine with the marking out in its structure of the nature-protecting complexes, including the territories and objects of the natural-reserve fund, lands for the highly intensive conduct of agricultural production; to ensure the fulfilment of the National Programme of Land Protection for the period up to 2010; to prepare and to implement the branch schemes for the preservation and resumption of land, water, biological namely, fish and forest mineral sources, sources of raw materials and other natural resources;
- to make water-protecting zones along the banks of rivers, storage-ponds, lakes and pools, to purify them from ooze, to form highly efficient hydrological systems;
- to ensure an active transition to biological methods of farming and the production of ecologically pure produce;
- to improve the localization of agricultural production with the aim of the most rational use of local natural conditions and resources.
The strengthening of state support for domestic agricultural production is expected in the following directions:
- use of the World Bank's loan for the restructuring of agriculture and its ecologization;
- reconsideration of the customs tariffs for the importation of some kinds of agricultural produce and foodstuffs;
- changes in the pricing policy, orientating it towards the achievement of parity in commodity exchange, and the realization of a free price formation together with the State regulation of prices for enterprise-monopolist producers;
- relaxation of taxation, which will make it possible to cut agricultural production costs and improve its competitiveness.
However, proceeding from an investigation in the problem of ensuring sustainability in agriculture, and proceeding from the realities of the financial and economic crisis in Ukraine, in our opinion the following major steps should be envisaged:
1. To reduce the area of arable land at the first stage through strongly eroded and degraded lands, which will enable a concentration the resources of more fertile lands and to obtain a maximal profit from their use.
2. To adjust the structure of cultivated areas and areas of crop rotation towards an increase in bean cultures, grain crops, and especially perennial grass, and, on the other hand, towards a reduction of tilled areas, especially under sugar beets. Yet in each particular case, this matter should be resolved depending on soil-ecological and socioeconomic factors.
3. To use more effective technologies for the utilization of waste from crop and livestock farming, from other non-traditional organic fertilizers, including refuse from communal services, grain straw, green manure crop, and achieving the application of organic fertilizers by 8-10 tonnes per one hectare of arable land, the equivalent of 100-120 kg/ha NPK.
4. To implement the application of bacterial preparations facilitating nitrogen fixation and phosphorus mobilization to 5-6 million hectares. This will ensure saving up to 10-20 kg/ha of mineral fertilizers.
5. To reduce power consumption, to prevent erosion processes, and in order to increase the coefficient of usage of precipitation, it is necessary to shift to soil-conservation minimal tillage with surface mulching using plant remains and a periodical deep aeration in crop rotation.
6. To ensure through the legislative procedure the protection of soil from water and wind erosion - one of the main factors of degradation of soil and the loss of nutrient materials. For this purpose, it is necessary to adopt the law "On the Protection of Soil" as a necessary condition for providing the population of the country with food products and for the establishment of competitive sustainable agriculture.
In 1991, the Association "Zeienyy Svit" was established. In 1994, the Green Party was established, which has a considerable number of representatives in the Supreme Council. In addition, the agrarian sections of Narodnyy Rukh and other parties of Center-Right orientation, and also the Peasant Party of Ukraine, are dealing partially with problems concerning the improvement of the ecological state of agriculture.
The Ukrainian Association for the Protection of Plants and the State Committee for the Protection of the Rights of Consumers were established in Ukraine in 1996. These agencies control the level of ecological safety of agricultural and imported products. The Commission of Biosafety under the Ministry of Science set up in 1997, is engaged in providing scientific support for the biosafety of the population.
But, for the time being, in Ukraine there are no organizations which could realize purposefully the concept of sustainable development in the sphere of agriculture.
Both objective and subjective factors cause a lack of modern sustainable development in agriculture, in Ukraine. The lack of norms and legislative acts with regards to the formation of the agricultural land market and the development of market relations, as well as the breaking of the ecological balance due to incorrect managing of the economy, brings about an urgent need for improvement and for studying the foreign experience of ensuring sustainability and its introduction in Ukrainian agriculture.
Danylyshyn, B.M. 1997. Ecological and economical problems of ensuring of sustainable development of productive forces studies of Ukraine (in agrarian-industrial complex' case), Kyiv.
Hryniv, L. 1997. Methodological problems of sustainable development of the State socio-ecosystem, Lviv.
Hryniv, L. 1998. Structure, entropy and development of regional socio-ecosystems, Republican Scientific Journal "Regional Economy", No. II.
Hryniv, L. 1998. Entropy of the ecological-economical processes, Lviv
Tarariko, A. 1994. New approaches for agro-ecosystems optimization analysis of Landscape Dynamics, pp. 137-144, Kyiv.
UAAN. 1991. Methods recommendation, Prediction of possible losses of soil due to wind erosion in the steppe zone of Ukraine, p. 82, Kharkiv.
UAAN. 1991b. Methods recommendations for conducting biological agriculture, p.73, Kyiv.
UAAN. 1994. Methods of complete soil-agrochemical monitoring of farmlands of Ukraine (Edited by Academicians of UAAN O.O. Sozinov and B.S. Prister), p. 159, MSGP &, Ukragrokhim, Kyiv.
***. 1991-1995. Reports of the Ministry of Statistics of Ukraine, Kyiv.
***. 1991-1998. Registers of the Supreme Council of Ukraine, Kyiv.
***. 1992. Growing ecologically pure crops (edited by V.F. Sayko, M.S. Komiychuk, E.G.Dehodyuk), p. 309, Kyiv.
***. 1992. Ukrainian National Report Conference on Environment and Development, Brazil-92. Kyiv.
***. 1995-1998. Bulletin of Agrarian Science, Kyiv.
***. 1995-1998. Economy of Ukraine, Kyiv.
***. 1996. Agrarian Legislation of Ukraine, Kyiv, Yurinkom.
***. 1998. Ecological and Land Law of Ukraine, Kyiv, Yurinkom.
***. 1998. Main Directive of the state policy of Ukraine in the branch of environmental protection, natural resources use and ensuring of ecological security, Kyiv.
Table 1: Structure and number of farms by the use of land (Ukraine,1995)
| Type of Farm | Number of farms | Ratio % | Arable land ha per farm | Ratio % |
| Collective farms | 13 810 | 0.1 | 1 980 | 88.2 |
| Private farms | 6 500 | 0.4 | 7.62 | 1.6 |
| Private plots | 10 700 000 | 67.0 | 0.26 | 8.9 |
| Household vegetable gardens | 2 700 000 | 16.9 | 0.09 | 0.7 |
| Household orchards | 15 978 810 | 15.6 | 0.07 | 0.6 |
| Total | 100.0 | 1.94 | 100.0 |
Source: Report of the Ministry of Statistics of Ukraine. Kyiv, 1995.
Table 2: Land use in agriculture of Ukraine, hectare/ton conventional grain units *.
| Years | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 |
| All forms of farming | 0.376 | 0.358 | 0.312 | 0.373 | 0.394 |
| Household plots | 0.377 | 0.323 | 0.286 | 0.357 | 0.382 |
| Farmsteads | 0.521 | 0.562 | 0.425 | 0.571 | 0.620 |
Source: according to Reports of the Ministry of Statistics of Ukraine. Kyiv, 1991-1995.
Table 3: Ratio of Agriculture produce by categories of Farms, %
| Farm types years |
Agricultural land | In gross output | ||
| Total | Incl. | |||
| Crop Farming | Livestock Farming | |||
| 1. Public Farms | ||||
| 1990 | 93.5 | 70.6 | 75.2 | 66.0 |
| 1997 | 83.2 | 44.3 | 50.5 | 34.2 |
| 2. Individual private Farms |
||||
| 1990 | 6.5 | 29.4 | 24.8 | 34.0 |
| 1997 | 14.2 | 55.1 | 48.6 | 65.4 |
| 3. Farmsteads | ||||
| 1990 | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1997 | 2.6 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 0.4 |
Source: according to Reports of the Ministry of Statistics of Ukraine. Kyiv, 1991-1997.
Figure 1: Qualitative description of agricultural lands
Source: Ukrainian National Report. Conference on Environment and Development, Brazil-92.Kyiv "Chas", 1992.
Figure 2: Disturbed, exhausted lands and their recultivation
Source: Ukrainian National Report. Conference on Environment and Development, Brazil-92.Kyiv "Chas", 1992.
