Tropentag, September 18 - 20, 2019 in Kassel "Filling gaps and removing traps for sustainable resources development"

The Influence of Credible Data on Research Outcomes (cereals case)

National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine, Fac. of Economics, Ukraine

Abstract

This contribution outlines the importance of improvements in higher education of agricultural studies and makes the case for its impacts on the national agricultural policy. It focuses on the critical types of costs , and the significance of reliable data management for cereal production in Ukraine and advocates suitable teaching approaches. The latter include vocationally oriented practical programs and competencies approaches, targeting new and old graduates, with flexible learning pathways and permeability among different agrarian management programs. Both elements are part of the programme of the ERASMUS+ funded international TOPAS project.
Ukraine is one of the largest producers and exporters of grain and steadily increases grain production despite a bunch of domestic grain market problems (e.g. high infrastructure costs for grain exports, price volatility, large companies` dominance). Data to forecast gross harvest, harvested area and yields were collected by AGMEMOD programme for 2019 – 2030 period according to the State Statistics Service of Ukraine from 2004 to 2018. The results showed that the production potential for wheat would be about 25 million tons by 2030.
The manufacturer's nominal producer protection coefficient was defined as the ratio of the domestic purchase price to the world. The competitiveness of domestic grain on the world market ensured by lower grain prices (during 2015-2017 years 21% lower than the world average). Agricultural producers compensate their price losses by lower cost of land lease and wages (take only 9% of direct costs, which is 3-4 times lower compared to developed countries); wheat exporters (traders) compensate their price losses by lower grain quality and logistics costs through lower purchasing prices.
Furthermore, during the last two years, statistical reporting in Ukraine by agricultural enterprises in the form of 50-SG was cancelled, which complicates analytical and research activity, especially in training economic profile specialists. Implementation of the EU Erasmus+ KA2 TOPAS project aims to collect data on typical Ukrainian enterprises. The applied standard methodology to calculate profit margins for crops and data processing relies on the RegioMAX management decision-making programme and allows for solving this problem substantially.

Keywords: Agricultural management, ERASMUS+ TOPAS, farm data, higher education

Contact Address: Klymenko Maksym, National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine, Dept. of Finance, Heroiv Oborony Str.15 Building 3 Of. 207, 03041 Kyiv, Ukraine, e-mail: maxklymenkonubip.edu.ua