Flax-growing und processing industry of Belarus: the state of production, labor productivity and work efficiency

Abstract

Flax is a traditional agricultural crop on the territory of Belarus. In this regard, the article considers the historical aspect of the development of the flax-growing industry in pre-revolutionary peasant farms and in subsequent agricultural organizations of the republic. Attention is drawn to the fact that due to the long-term technical backwardness of flax cultivation and the primary processing of flax trusts for fiber, labor productivity in the industry has not substantially increased for a long time. During the period 2015 – 2019, specialized flax-growing and processing organizations of the republic increased the volume of flax fiber due to the expansion of sown areas, while the quality of products remained low. Therefore, the sale of fiber to consumers was at a deep loss. It is noted that the currently functioning method of calculation labor productivity in flax growing needs to be improved. On the example of open joint Stock company (JSC) “Gorki-flax” of Mogilev region, the expediency of calculating and evaluating hourly labor productivity through the use of added value rather than gross output is proved. It is revealed that if we use the traditional method of calculating labor productivity, then in the dynamics of 2015– 2019 this indicator significantly decreased, while the calculation of labor productivity by value added indicates a dynamic trend of its increase. It is necessary to pay attention to the fact that the staff of JSC “Gorki-flax” for the period 2015 – 2019 significantly improved the work on the cultivation of the flax and primary processing of trusts for fiber. As a result, the economic and financial indicators of the organization have significantly increased: the flax-growing and processing industry has become steadily profitable.