Innovative technologies in crop production as a factor in improving the economic efficiency of agricultural production in Ukraine

Susan Farzaliyeva, Valida Safarova, Lamiya Huseynova, Andrii Opanasenko
Received: 10.01.2025 Revised: 01.06.2025 Accepted: 25.06.2025
Retrieved from Vol. 28, No. 7, 2025 Pages: 48-61
Download article Read article

Abstract

The aim of the study was to determine the effectiveness of replacing chemical plant protection products, fertilisers, and growth stimulants with biological alternatives in terms of productivity, costs, profitability, and the agro-ecological state of soils. The research, conducted in 2020-2024, covered winter wheat varieties “Podolyanka”, “Duma Odeska”, “Favorytka”, “Bohuslavka”, “MIP Lada”, and “Stolychna”, barley varieties “Vakula”, “Helios”, and “Concerto”, as well as maize hybrids “DKC 5143”, “DKC 4014”, “Pioneer 9892”, “Khortytsia”, and “Dniprovskyi 185 SV”. The empirical base included statistical data, soil analysis results, case observations from farms in different regions, and economic modelling. It was established that the yield increase from applying biopreparations averaged 4.3-7.1 centners/ha for wheat and maize, and up to 4.8 centners/ha for barley, while costs decreased by up to 16%. The humus content in soils increased to 3.3%, and the number of microorganisms – to 3.8×106 colony-forming units per gram. An increase in the root system length of the “Stolychna” wheat variety up to 48 cm was observed, as well as a 40% reduction in barley fungal infections. Price analysis revealed that organic wheat was 48% more expensive than conventional wheat on the external market. The model forecast demonstrated the potential for cost savings for the agricultural sector of up to 15 billion UAH if 30% of farms transitioned to the biological model. The results obtained could be used to adapt agricultural technologies, develop support programmes for ecological farming, and enhance the export of organic products

Keywords

agriculture; profitability; biofungicides; biofertilisers; sustainable agriculture

  1. Abdul-Rahaman, A., Issahaku, G., & Zereyesus, Y.A. (2021). Improved rice variety adoption and farm production efficiency: Accounting for unobservable selection bias and technology gaps among smallholder farmers in Ghana. Technology in Society, 64, article number 101471. doi: 10.1016/j.techsoc.2020.101471.
  2. Adisa, O., Ilugbusi, B.S., Adelekan, O.A., Asuzu, O.F., & Ndubuisi, N.L. (2024). A comprehensive review of redefining agricultural economics for sustainable development: Overcoming challenges and seizing opportunities in a changing world. World Journal of Advanced Research and Reviews, 21(1), 2329-2341. doi: 10.30574/ wjarr.2024.21.1.0322.
  3. Ahmed, N., Xinagyu, G., Alnafissa, M., Sikder, M., & Faye, B. (2025). Evaluating the impact of sustainable technology, resource utilization, and climate change on soil emissions: A CS-ARDL analysis of leading agricultural economies. Cleaner Engineering and Technology, 24, article number 100869. doi: 10.1016/j. clet.2024.100869.
  4. Aldieri, L., Brahmi, M., Chen, X., & Vinci, C.P. (2021). Knowledge spillovers and technical efficiency for cleaner production: An economic analysis from agriculture innovation. Journal of Cleaner Production, 320, article number 128830. doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.128830.
  5. Algarni, S., Tirth, V., Alqahtani, T., Alshehery, S., & Kshirsagar, P. (2023). Contribution of renewable energy sources to the environmental impacts and economic benefits for sustainable development. Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments, 56, article number 103098. doi: 10.1016/j.seta.2023.103098.
  6. Alharbi, S., Felemban, A., Abdelrahim, A., & Al-Dakhil, M. (2024). Agricultural and Technology-based strategies to improve water-use efficiency in Arid and Semiarid areas. Water, 16(13), article number 1842. doi: 10.3390/ w16131842.
  7. Bernini, C., & Galli, F. (2024). Economic and environmental efficiency, subsidies and spatio-temporal effects in agriculture. Ecological Economics, 218, article number 108120. doi: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108120.
  8. Chen, S., & Lu, J. (2025). Exploring the realization pathways of improving the agricultural green production level in the major grain-producing areas of China. Agriculture, 15(4), article number 402. doi: 10.3390/ agriculture15040402.
  9. Drobitko, А., & Kachanova, T. (2023). Agroecological substantiation of technologies for growing grain crops in the conditions of the Southern Steppe of Ukraine. Ukrainian Black Sea Region Agrarian Science, 27(4), 9-17. doi: 10.56407/bs.agrarian/4.2023.09.
  10. Food and Agriculture Organization. (n.d.). FAO emergencies and resilience: Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Retrieved from https://www.fao.org/emergencies/where-we-work/eastern-europe-and-central-asia/en.
  11. Fu, L.S., Qin, T., Li, G.Q., & Wang, S.G. (2024). Efficiency of agricultural insurance in facilitating modern agriculture development: From the perspective of production factor allocation. Sustainability, 16(14), article number 6223. doi: 10.3390/su16146223.
  12. Geng, W., Liu, L., Zhao, J., Kang, X., & Wang, W. (2024). Digital technologies adoption and economic benefits in agriculture: A mixed-methods approach. Sustainability, 16(11), article number 4431. doi: 10.3390/su16114431.
  13. He, J., Wei, Z., & Lei, X. (2025). Unveiling the digital revolution: Catalyzing total factor productivity in agriculture. PloS One, 20(3), article number e0318333. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0318333.
  14. Hemathilake, D.M., & Gunathilake, D.M. (2022). Agricultural productivity and food supply to meet increased demands. In R. Bhat (Ed.), Future foods: Global trends, opportunities, and sustainability challenges (pp. 539-553). London: Academic Press. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-323-91001-9.00016-5.
  15. Hu, Y., Liu, J., Zhang, S., Liu, Y., Xu, H., & Liu, P. (2024). New mechanisms for increasing agricultural total factor productivity: Analysis of the regional effects of the digital economy. Economic Analysis and Policy, 83, 766-785. doi: 10.1016/j.eap.2024.07.017.
  16. Institute for Soil Science and Agrochemistry Research Named after O.N. Sokolovsky. (n.d.). Peer-reviewed open access scientific Collected papers “AgroChemistry and Soil Science”. Retrieved from https://issar.com.ua/ mizhvidomchij-tematichnij-naukovij-zbirnik-agrohimiya-i-gruntoznavstvo/.
  17. Kabato, W., Getnet, G.T., Sinore, T., Nemeth, A., & Molnár, Z. (2025). Towards climate-smart agriculture: Strategies for sustainable agricultural production, food security, and greenhouse gas reduction. Agronomy, 15(3), article number 565. doi: 10.3390/agronomy15030565.
  18. Kovalenko, N., Kovalenko, V., Hutsol, T., Ievstafiieva, Y., & Polishchuk, A. (2021). Economic efficiency and internal competitive advantages of grain production in the central region of Ukraine. Agricultural Engineering, 25(1), 51-62. doi: 10.2478/agriceng-2021-0004.
  19. Kuchimov, S.K. (2021). Economic issues of ensuring economic efficiency in agricultural production and the use of innovative agricultural technologies. SAARJ Journal on Banking & Insurance Research, 10(2), 16-22. doi: 10.5958/2319-1422.2021.00011.4.
  20. Kulazhanov, T., Uazhanova, R., Baybolova, L., Yerzhigitov, Y., Kemerbekova, A., Tyutebayeva, K., Izembayeva, A., & Zhengiskyzy, S. (2024). Ensuring quality and safety in the production and storage of grain crops. Caspian Journal of Environmental Sciences, 22(5), 1279-1284. doi: 10.22124/cjes.2024.8343.
  21. Law of Ukraine No. 3116-XII “On Protection of Rights to Plant Varieties”. (1993, April). Retrieved from https:// zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/3116-12.
  22. Lu, H., Chen, Y., & Luo, J. (2024). Development of green and low-carbon agriculture through grain production agglomeration and agricultural environmental efficiency improvement in China. Journal of Cleaner Production, 442, article number 141128. doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2024.141128.
  23. Ma, L., Long, H., Tang, L., Tu, S., Zhang, Y., & Qu, Y. (2021). Analysis of the spatial variations of determinants of agricultural production efficiency in China. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 180, article number 105890. doi: 10.1016/j.compag.2020.105890.
  24. Mamchur, V., & Studinska, G. (2024). Effectiveness assessment of technical innovations in the implementation of the modern model of the agricultural sector of Ukraine. Ekonomika APK, 31(2), 32-40. doi: 10.32317/22211055.202402032.
  25. National Institute for Strategic Studies. (2024). Ukraine’s agricultural sector in 2023: components of sustainability, challenges and prospects. Retrieved from https://niss.gov.ua/doslidzhennya/ekonomika/ahrarnyy-sektorukrayiny-u-2023-rotsi-skladovi-stiykosti-problemy-ta.
  26. Pan, Y., Zhang, S., & Zhang, M. (2024). The impact of entrepreneurship of farmers on agriculture and rural economic growth: Innovation-driven perspective. Innovation and Green Development, 3(1), article number 100093. doi: 10.1016/j.igd.2023.100093.
  27. Papadopoulos, G., Arduini, S., Uyar, H., Psiroukis, V., Kasimati, A., & Fountas, S. (2024). Economic and environmental benefits of digital agricultural technologies in crop production: A review. Smart Agricultural Technology, 8, article number 100441. doi: 10.1016/j.atech.2024.100441.
  28. Pavlenko, M., Kovalenko, V., Pikovska, O., & Tonkha, O. (2025). Productivity of binary crops under the application of different cultivation technology elements. Plant and Soil Science, 16(1), 61-73. doi: 10.31548/plant1.2025.61.
  29. Pisante, M., Stagnari, F., & Grant, C.A. (2012). Agricultural innovations for sustainable crop production intensification. Italian Journal of Agronomy, 7(4), article number e40. doi: 10.4081/ija.2012.e40.
  30. Reddy, R. (2022). Innovations in agricultural machinery: Assessing the impact of advanced technologies on farm efficiency. Journal of Artificial Intelligence and Big Data, 3(1), 29-48. doi: 10.31586/jaibd.2023.1156.
  31. Shah, K.K., Modi, B., Pandey, H. P., Subedi, A., Aryal, G., Pandey, M., & Shrestha, J. (2021). Diversified crop rotation: An approach for sustainable agriculture production. Advances in Agriculture, 2021(1), article number 8924087. doi: 10.1155/2021/8924087.
  32. Shahini, E., & Shtal, T. (2023). Assessment of the level of competitiveness of Ukrainian agricultural holdings in international markets. Ekonomika APK, 30(6), 45-56. doi: 10.32317/2221-1055.202306045.
  33. Shmatkovska, T., Dziamulych, M., Vavdiiuk, N., Kutsai, N., & Polishchuk, V. (2021). Economic efficiency of the land resource management by agricultural producers in the system of their non-current assets analysis: A case study of the agricultural sector of Ukraine. Scientific Papers Series “Management, Economic Engineering in Agriculture and Rural Development”, 21(2), 577-588.
  34. State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection. (n.d.). List of foreign certification bodies. Retrieved from https://dpss.gov.ua/bezpechnist-harchovih-produktiv-ta-veterinarna-medicina/perelikorganiv-inozemnoyi-sertifikaciyi.
  35. State Statistics Service of Ukraine. (n.d.). Statistical collection “Agriculture of Ukraine”. Retrieved from https:// www.ukrstat.gov.ua/druk/publicat/Arhiv_u/07/Arch_sg_zb.htm.
  36. Struminska, O., Kurta, S., Shevchuk, L., & Ivanyshyn, S. (2014). Biopolymers for seed presowing treatment. Chemistry and Chemical Technology, 8(1), 81-88. doi: 10.23939/chcht08.01.081.
  37. Takacs-Gyorgy, K. (2012). Economic aspects of an agricultural innovation – precision crop production. Applied Studies in Agribusiness and Commerce, 6(1-2), 51-59. doi: 10.19041/APSTRACT/2012/1-2/6.
  38. Usigbe, M J., Asem-Hiablie, S., Uyeh, D.D., Iyiola, O., Park, T., & Mallipeddi, R. (2023). Enhancing resilience in agricultural production systems with AI-based technologies. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 26(9), 21955-21983. doi: 10.1007/s10668-023-03588-0.
  39. Xie, Y., Yao, R., Wu, H., & Li, M. (2025). Digital economy, factor allocation, and resilience of food production. Land, 14(1), article number 139. doi: 10.3390/land14010139.
  40. Xing, Y., Chen, M., & Wang, X. (2025). Enhancing water use efficiency and fruit quality in jujube cultivation: A review of advanced irrigation techniques and precision management strategies. Agricultural Water Management, 307, article number 109243. doi: 10.1016/j.agwat.2024.109243.
  41. Yaheliuk, S., Fomych, М., & Rechun, O. (2024). Global market trends of grain and industrial crops. Commodity Bulletin, 17(1), 134-145. doi: 10.62763/ef/1.2024.134.
Farzaliyeva, S., Safarova, V., Huseynova, L., & Opanasenko, A. (2025). Innovative technologies in crop production as a factor in improving the economic efficiency of agricultural production in Ukraine. Scientific Horizons, 28(7), 48-61. https://doi.org/10.48077/scihor7.2025.48