Annotation

The peculiarities of agricultural land use in the Chudniv area of Zhytomyr region are analyzed. Agricultural lands of the area are represented by arable land (45.2 thousand hectares), hayfields and pastures (2.0 thousand hectares), as well as perennial plantations (0.05 thousand hectares). Arable land (95.7 %), which is used by 43 farms of different ownership and organization forms, occupy the lion's share. It is established that the productivity of the main cereals and pulses crops, which is cultivated in the Chudniv area, was higher than the average in Zhytomyr region, by about 35.0%. This is due to the presence of large areas of gray-forest, dark gray soils and chernozems podzolized, which are optimal for obtaining high yields of winter wheat, spring and winter barley, oats, grain corn. Specified soils are characterized by a high level of natural fertility: the arable land quality index is 51, while for the Polissya zone it is only 32.

The most common farming forms in the territory of the Chudniv area are family-run establishments (farms and peasant agriculture). In challenging markets, this form of management has proved as the most competitive and efficient. Since the beginning of the land reform in the Chudniv area, the average agricultural en-terprises size has increased significantly (up to 1100 hectares).

The structure survey of sown areas within typical farms in the Chudniv ar-ea enabled to establish that the share of grain, pulses and technical crops in the crop structure does not exceed the Forest–Steppe recommended standards.