PROBLEMS OF VEGETABLE DEVELOPMENT AT THE CORNER THE VIEW OF FOOD AND ENVIRONMENTAL SECURITY
Authors: Rud Viktoriia 
Published: November 2023

Purpose. The purpose of the work is to study the impact of the war on the economic availability of food and to estimate the volume of deficits in the production of vegetable products.

Methodology of research. Scientific works on the problems of the formation and functioning of the vegetable market became the methodological basis of the research. The following methods used were: dialectical, the method of expert evaluations (when analysing publications and the main opinions of experts on the researched topic), mathematical and statistical (when determining the amount of deficit in vegetable production, determining the share of occupied regions and when analysing the regional structure of vegetable production), systemic analysis (theoretical generalizations, establishing structural connections between the elements of the studied system), abstract and logical (when forming conclusions and recommendations), etc.

Findings. An analysis of the current state of vegetable production was carried out. The volumes of the deficit of vegetable production have been established and the share of the occupied regions in the sown areas and gross harvests of vegetables and melon food crops was determined. The reasons for the unsatisfactory state of the vegetable and food sub-complex were established. The general strategy and priority directions for the development of vegetable growing and melon growing and the processing industry were outlined. The volumes of production of vegetable and melon products for the future for domestic needs were determined.

Originality. For the first time in the conditions of martial law, the actual volumes of the deficit of vegetable production in the southern regions of Ukraine, which are occupied or affected by military operations, were determined. Scientific and methodical approaches to the formation and functioning of the vegetable market were improved by introducing a mechanism for replacing the deficit in the production of certain vegetables in specific regions. Thus, it is proposed to expand the area of cultivation of vegetables of the borscht group and rare vegetable crops in the western, central and southern regions of the country within 67.0‒80.0 thousand hectares; and heat-loving vegetable crops (tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, melon crops) in Mykholaiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kirovohrad, Odesa regions within 25.0‒26.5 thousand hectares.

In addition, by introducing innovative technologies, scientific support of the industry and increasing the share of specialized large-scale enterprises, increase the yield of vegetables from the existing 20 to 25 t/ha, which, unlike existing approaches, will make it possible to overcome the deficit in the production of vegetables in the amount of 2 million tons and melon food crops at the level of 230‒250 thousand tons. It was determined that in order to minimize the agro-food crisis, ecological threats, as a result of findings military intervention and overcoming the shortage of vegetable and fruit products on the domestic market, it is necessary to take the proposed measures aimed at supporting their effective production as soon as possible.
Practical value. The implementation of the proposed proposals will allow solving the issue of economic independence of individual regions, food security of communities and increasing the level of coordination of the system of actions of management bodies, business entities, scientists and investors on the basis of sustainable development in the conditions of post-war recovery of the country.
Key words: food, food crisis, ecology, vegetable growing, production, consumption, innovative development.