Cultivation of corn for grain: the state of the industry, labor productivity, work efficiency

Abstract

Large-scale cultivation of corn for grain is an urgent task of the functioning of Belarusian agricultural organizations. For this purpose, technological methods of growing this crop have been worked out and tested in production conditions. The biological features of local maize varieties are determined taking into account natural and climatic conditions.

In Belarus, the sown area of corn harvested for grain increased by more than 1,7 times in 2016– 2018, the gross grain harvest increased by 45 %. The average yield of 1 ha of crop during this period fluctuated in significant aisles – from 5 to 6,5 tons of grain. Such a low indicator indicates an insufficient level of intensity of the industry, especially in agricultural organizations.

An in­depth study of the production, economic and financial results of the work of the corn industry was carried out on the example of the agricultural production cooperative “Progress-Vertelishki” of the Grodno region for 2016–2018. Considerable attention in the APC is paid to the cultivation of corn for grain. In 2018, corn accounted for up to 32 % of the gross grain harvest in this agricultural organization. Among the production and economic indicators, labor productivity occupies an important place, therefore, considerable attention is paid to it in the article. In the APC “Progress-Vertelishki” during the study period, positive results were obtained when selling corn grain: the sale of products turned out to be sustainably profitable with fluctuations from 41,3 to 83,1 %.