ECONOMIC VALUE AND ECONOMIC ATTRACTIVENESS OF OATS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NICHE PRODUCTION

Abstract

The article reveals the economic value and economic attractiveness of oat production as one of the main niche grain crops. Considering the important role of oats, its advantages compared to other niche crops were outlined. It is substantiated that the economic attractiveness of its production is largely determined by its multifunctionality. The dynamics of oat production in Ukraine by category of farms was studied. The rating of oat production by regions of Ukraine was carried out, and the volume of its receipt at processing enterprises was considered. The dynamics of indicators of the economic efficiency of oat production in agricultural enterprises are analyzed and the prospects for the development of the production of niche grain crops are outlined. The authors prove that the use of niche crops in crop rotation allows to reduce the dominance of sunflower and rapeseed, the excessive cultivation of which greatly depletes the soil, and to diversify the existing grain-oil specialization of Ukrainian agriculture. The authors also reveal other advantages of growing niche crops (high profitability, diversification of production) and disadvantages (high cost of seed material and cultivation technologies, instability of demand for most niche crops, significant price fluctuations, uncertain amount of expected profit). It was established that an important feature of growing niche crops is the high resource intensity of their production. On the basis of the conducted research, we came to the conclusion that: oats are a high-value agricultural crop; oat grain production is potentially economically attractive; cultivation of niche grain crops is one of the most promising areas of development of small and medium-sized commodity producers, based on the fact that small farmers cannot compete with agricultural holdings in the production of traditional agricultural crops, so they should master the production of niche products; cultivation of niche crops will enable small enterprises to enter international markets and offer unique products.