Management paradigm improving the productivity of farms based on the principles of agricultural consulting

. The agro-industrial complex, and farms in particular, is one of the riskiest types of business activity. To obtain high yields and increase production efficiency, reasonable and balanced decisions based on highly specialised knowledge and practical experience are necessary. The purpose of the study is to identify the role of consulting in the system of agricultural management paradigm. The study uses general scientific methods of cognition: logical and structural analysis, comparison, theoretical modelling, abstraction, induction and deduction, and statistical methods,


INTRODUCTION
Destructive processes in the agricultural sector of Ukraine, caused by the decline of animal husbandry, the deepening of narrow specialisation in the cultivation of grain and oilseeds in crop production, against the background of increased labour migration from rural areas and irrational use of Natural Resources, cause a deterioration in the quality of agricultural land and a decrease in productivity indicators.
World practice convincingly shows that consulting activities is one of the most effective mechanisms for solving problems in the agricultural sector, for which the term "agricultural advisory activity" is often used in Ukraine.The short history of practical implementation of such activities on the territory of Ukraine in the new economic conditions requires the implementation of the accumulated paradigm of agricultural consulting development in the world practice, which aims to increase the productivity of farms through the use of effective management tools.Many studies by modern researchers are devoted to the essence of consulting in agriculture.Thus, O. Svitovyi (2022) and O. Berbenets (2022) define agricultural consulting as a process that aims to generate useful information about optimising the activities of farms.N. Mazur and A. Nikolashyn (2021) argue that consulting is the use of information to form optimal solutions by a business entity and create prerequisites for their implementation.
Considering the essence of consulting, V. Zbarsky and M. Talavirya (2023) decompose it into specific vectors, which include the purpose, means, and communication between participants in the consulting process.Therewith, G. Pruntseva (2020) emphasises that the duty of a consultant is to act for the benefit of their partner, while the business entity reserves full independence in decision-making and responsibility for the consequences of their implementation.The problem of consulting in the agricultural sector is multidimensional.It combines legal, technological, environmental, social, and economic aspects.Researchers O. Klenin and M. Bilopolskyi (2017) include the features of the concept of consulting, its meaning and functions in the system of agricultural transformations, prospects for consulting in the context of the formation of a market economy in the content of economic aspects.
Today, in the agricultural sector of Ukraine, there is a process of destruction of the productivity of business entities, which is largely due to the instability of the economy and a decrease in production volumes.Modern researchers T. Grober and O. Grober (2020) see the essence of the impact of negative factors in the fact that many farms develop without synergy with market laws, in conditions of inadequate material and technical base of production, in the absence of the possibility of using innovative technological solutions and established economic ties.In addition, today, there is a phenomenon of disparity in the economic processes of farms, which is caused by price liberalisation, weakening of state regulation, strengthening of inflation processes, complication of credit policy, and together with disproportionate phenomena -the redistribution of responsibility for overcoming them (Williams & van Triest, 2023).
Quite thoroughly general problems of farm management are examined in the studies of modern researchers C. Li et al. (2021) and M. Masud et al. (2022).Certain issues of improving the productivity and competitiveness of farm formations are reflected in the papers of E. Mohamed et al. (2021).However, the problems associated with the analysis of the algorithm of the successful functioning of farm formations and effective management of their activities using the capabilities of agricultural consulting, which aims to increase the competitiveness and productivity of production, remain insufficiently examined today and require further scientific consideration.
The purpose of the study was to analyse the use of consulting to improve the efficiency of agricultural production.An additional task was to examine the possibilities of management tools based on agricultural consulting to stimulate the productivity of farms in Ukraine.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
In the course of the study, a number of general scientific and special methods of cognition were used, including methods of logical, structural, functional, comparative analysis, abstraction, induction and deduction, and methods of concretisation and formalisation.The theoretical and methodological base of the study is formed based on the dialectical method, a systematic approach, and priority principles for conducting comprehensive research.Therewith, the systematic approach allowed examining the object and subject of study as a system in the entire set of relationships.
The comparison method was used to determine the specific features of development and the dynamics of quantitative and qualitative characteristics of farm productivity.Methods of analysis and synthesis were used in the process of identifying the stages and factors of development, and the most influential elements of the object under study.The inductive method was used to predict development indicators.Deduction was applied in the course of developing proposals for optimising management processes in farm production.Methods of system analysis and synthesis were used to identify the essence of the organisational and economic mechanism of the object under study and to determine strategic vectors for the development of effective management in the farming sector.Through system analysis, structural connections between the elements of the phenomenon under study are established.
The abstraction method was used in the course of the study to identify the main concepts and categories.Through this method, the concept of an integral process of the management system in the agricultural farming sector is formed as a structural and consequence system of relationships, where the consulting process occupies a prominent place along with the main production and organisational factors.The historical-logical method is used to identify historical and structural connections in the production system of agricultural production.Abstract-logical and dialectical methods of scientific knowledge, and the method of scientific abstraction, are used in the study to form theoretical generalisations, clarify the conceptual apparatus, and formulate conclusions.In addition, mathematical methods were applied in the course of the study to develop a methodology for assessing the feasibility of integrating farms.
The concretisation method is used to fix the efficiency and expediency of agricultural consulting in the process of increasing the productivity of farms and to identify optimal conditions and solutions for levelling risks in the field of agricultural production.The method of formalisation in the study was used at the stage of deriving priority vectors for optimising the productivity management system of farms based on agricultural consulting and in the process of fixing the results of the study aimed at active practical implementation in the process of agricultural sector management.The theoretical basis of the study includes legislative and regulatory acts of Ukraine, scientific literature on thematic areas, monographs, scientific and analytical publications of Ukrainian and World researchers on the examined issues, results of independent observations and practical recommendations on ways to optimise management processes in the agricultural sector in the aspect of consulting farms.

RESULTS
The dynamics of economic relations and the reorientation of agriculture with the priority of private property led to substantial development of the farm sector (Berbenets, 2022).Ensuring their effective functioning, productivity growth, and economic efficiency requires solving a whole range of problems regarding the growth of competitiveness, innovative development prospects, the introduction of the latest effective tools of the management mechanism, and the development of a set of appropriate measures that could mitigate adaptation processes in conditions of increased competition.Ultimately, the market economy forms the main goal of agricultural production -increasing profitability, which is directly related to productivity growth, so the active development of farms, in particular, is determined by indicators of economic performance (Klenin & Bilopolskyi, 2017).
Given the current situation, the role of agricultural consulting in the structure of the management system in the agricultural sector cannot be overestimated.In general, consulting is an optimisation process based on professional advice.Notably, the resulting effect can have a different form of expression and be achieved by different methods and means.For example, along with an increase in the volume of farm production, organisational-managerial or personnel changes are used.Consulting is a process that results from the interaction of three systems: the consultant, the client organisation, and the external environment (Mohamed et al., 2021).Therewith, the concept of a consultant is a set of all means of production and personnel directly involved in the formation of certain decisions and programmes, that is, in the production process of a consulting product.It is worth emphasising the integrity of the consulting process because external factors -economic, social, political, natural and climatic (Latif et al., 2020;Hu et al., 2020) affect the process.
Notably, as a rule, any solution formed in the process of professional consulting differs substantially from the established practice.As a result, its implementation requires the participants of the consulting system not only the expected changes in knowledge and qualifications but also an active perception of innovations and the ability to find and effectively implement solutions to problematic issues that constantly arise in the process of production activities.In this case, it is worth highlighting the essence of the consultant's work, which consists in the practical growth of the pace of agricultural development, in particular, farming, that is, in performing a stimulating function.From the standpoint of economic efficiency, the consulting process should have a constant character and be positioned as a long-term cooperation, initiating positive dynamics of transformations within the economy and stimulating it to constant self-development.
The practice of managing the productivity of business entities in the agricultural sector of Ukraine indicates the need to develop and implement appropriate individual management methods, functions, organisational structure and management system as a prerequisite for effective management of the competitiveness of farms.Based on the examination of the theoretical foundations of consulting and the possibilities of their adaptation in real conditions, it is considered appropriate to form the concept of strategic management of farms, which aims to increase their productivity, should ensure the orientation of production to demand and current market needs, cultivate effective relationships between labour, financial and information resources, stimulate the desire to increase production efficiency, and obtain optimal results with cost minimisation.Notably, effective management involves flexibility, adaptability, and regular review of goals and programmes depending on market conditions.In addition, the basic prerequisite for successful optimisation of the management system in the agricultural sector is the use of modern innovative programming, modelling, and forecasting capabilities.
The current strategy of the farm management system to increase their productivity should be a kind of hub of interrelated organisational and information principles, tools and levers that contribute to increasing the level of competitiveness of farm formations.The main components of ensuring the implementation and development of a farm development strategy are proposed to be the following: • technical-technological, which involves the analysis of statistical data and diverse information, the introduction of the latest innovative strategies, technologies and concepts; • legislative-scientific, which implies an understanding of the legislative framework of Ukraine and the ability to predict possible legislative changes, investigate foreign experience, develop and implement strategic innovations; • personnel motivated by regional development potential, awareness of local needs, communication between farmers and the authorities.
The primary principles of strategic management of farm productivity are consistency, efficiency, flexibility, balance, risk minimisation (Table 1).The implementation of strategic management should be conducted for the entire organisation, and not for individual divisions, which implies a common focus on a single goal

Source: M. Horikhovskyi (2018)
Evidently, agricultural consulting services are an important element of the management system of agricultural enterprises.Consulting is a process in which the real state of processes in the enterprise is analysed, reserves are identified to increase production volumes and save resources.The results of the analytical work serve as a basis for the development of a set of measures that, with minimal costs, bypassing the substantial restructuring of the organisational structure of the enterprise, allow a substantial increase in productivity and production efficiency, increasing the competitiveness of manufactured products.Thus, it can be argued that agricultural consulting is able to increase the productivity and efficiency of farms with minimal costs of material resources and, therefore can be used as an effective tool for reducing costs per unit of production.In developed countries, the process of providing agricultural advisory services is an effective tool as part of a management algorithm for increasing the productivity of the agricultural segment, in particular, farms.
Notably, agriculture is an industry that is extremely subject to the influence of natural and climatic factors, and often, even their timely forecasting cannot protect the producer of agricultural products from losses.Thus, the prospects for the development of agricultural enterprises should mainly be based on modelling production processes in the entire set of factors of influence and interdependence.Since any performance indicator is influenced by various factors, it is necessary to identify these factors, predict them, and, if they are negative, neutralise them.The general structure of the strategic management process in a farm is shown in Figure 1.
Notably, strategic management of farms has its own characteristics.The main factors affecting the process are shown in Table 2. Difficulties in the field of agricultural consulting are primarily due to the fact that many factors affect the efficiency of agriculture in complex and contradictory ways.Recently, a number of effective formats of consulting operations aimed at solving existing problems and creating favourable conditions for the effective development of farms have been formed (Kovalska, 2014;Goncharova, 2015;Karpenko, 2018).Today, evidently, agricultural consulting services, in the context of modern globalisation challenges, should perform, along with increasing productivity and competitiveness, related relevant functions, such as establishing links with highly competitive and export markets, promoting the ecological development of rural areas, and establishing a closed production cycle on them, and intensive use of the results of research and development in production turnover, ensuring the activation of innovation processes based on the improvement of information, consulting, and implementation activities, the creation and development of innovative infrastructure facilities (Panitz & Glückler, 2020;Van Rossem, 2021).
The main components of the innovation sector in the field of agricultural consulting should be agricultural advisory centres, united in a single system and an extensive network close to the commodity producer of agricultural products, raw materials, and foodstuffs Emirhüseyinoğlu & Ryan, 2022).Today, in Ukraine, the functions of agricultural consulting centres are mainly performed by specialised consulting organisations operating at the regional and district levels.There is a primary need to assess the effectiveness of their activities, based on which, as a rule, budget financing and further development strategies of consulting organisations are formed to improve the effectiveness of their activities (Randall & James, 2012; Junior et al., 2019; Giua et al., 2021).Therefore, the activities of agricultural consulting facilities have their specific features and individual characteristics.Considering the above, separate methods of agricultural consulting aimed at improving the productivity and competitiveness of farms can be separated.Their choice and implementation depend on the conditions in which the consulting subjects are located and the tasks facing them.The main methods of agricultural consulting include the following.1. Advising a separate project.It involves collecting and analysing data to solve the current problem, analyse the state of activity, and form appropriate recommendations.The decision is formed within a short period, and the involvement of the business entity in its formation is minimised.This approach is recommended for optimising the organisational structure of the farm, revising the marketing system, and reviewing business projects.
2. Support service.The method is the periodic involvement of a consultant at different stages of a particular project.It is characterised by the low cost of services of this type of consulting.
3. Expert advice.It provides for the involvement of a consultant at the stage of identifying the problem.The consultant structures the problem, investigates the possibilities of its solution, formulates hypotheses, and suggests a solution method or alternative options.
4. internal counselling.The method involves the permanent work of a consultant in the staff of a business entity.
Notably, the effectiveness of a particular method of consulting depends on a combination of factors, including the flexibility and adaptability of the client to changes, the qualification of the consultant, and the type of problem being solved.In case of unsatisfactory results, the consumer of the consulting service can review the initial conditions of the problem in terms of the features of the activity identified by the consultant, which were not previously considered, and in case of serious disagreements, contact other consultants.
The agricultural production sector is one of the main sectors of the Ukrainian economy.The agro-industrial complex has a substantial resource potential and has all the prospects for successful development.Farms are currently positioned as full-fledged entities in the agro-industrial complex.As a diminutive form of entrepreneurship, they have substantial advantages over larger forms of agricultural production.These include the brevity of the organisation, the ease of entering the market, increased adaptability in economic activities due to the small scale of production, and a quick response to the dynamics of market conditions.Farms have evident advantages along with other agricultural entities: savings on on-farm transportation, management costs, and an interest in improving operational efficiency.Successful further development of the farm segment requires optimisation of the methodological base and practical measures to increase their competitiveness and profitability (Knierim et al., 2019).
Notably, one of the prefaces to the practical improvement of agricultural production efficiency indicators is the economic effect of reducing the initial cost of production, which, in turn, requires improving the cost management system.Therewith, the qualification of managers within the framework of a farm, for the most part, does not allow effectively solving the tasks of such a plan, which makes it necessary to use management consulting services.Today, the level of demand for agricultural advisory services in Ukraine needs to be more substantial.This state of affairs is mainly due to farmers' low solvency level and ignorance of the advantages and benefits of consulting services.In the vast majority, managers of agricultural enterprises are not sure of the proper level of confidentiality of information about their commercial activities.However, it is essential to understand that consulting can encourage substantial economic benefits, including introducing innovative approaches and technologies (Kernecker et al., 2019;Romero-Padilla et al., 2022).
Agricultural consulting can become the management lever that, when used effectively, will allow achieving a substantial increase in the productivity of farms while not separating their functional activities from the principles of a closed-loop economy and sustainable production (Reddy et al., 2021).
The purpose of a promising study in the field should be to highlight strategic priorities for forming a stable professional agricultural consulting system and integrating an information monitoring system as the main initial resource for optimising the situation.Therewith, an important role is assigned to attracting international practical experience in developing new and improving existing methods within the framework of an integrated multi-factor approach to managing farm productivity.

DISCUSSION
Most modern researchers see consulting as the basis for the development of entrepreneurship in agriculture, which creates a number of organisational and economic prerequisites for technical reproduction and efficient use of agricultural production.M. Horikhovskyi (2018) argues that management consulting services are one of the most effective tools for optimising the production activities of farms.According to the researcher, the main goal of the consulting process is to help clients solve management problems.This goal can be achieved using various effective advisory algorithms.In addition to that, the author notes that the process is influenced by a number of factors, in particular, time constraints, financial capabilities, and the level of intellectual resources of personnel.The researcher is convinced that, as a rule, consultants, providing a service stipulated by the agreement rarely encourage the farmer to form a solution to the problem by themselves.In addition, the researcher considers coaching on identifying and solving problematic phenomena the most promising area of agricultural consulting.Given the current state of infrastructure support for the agricultural sector in Ukraine, according to the author, the state management of the farm advisory system requires further research.Therewith, he convinces of the need to use information resources and the successful experience of developed countries for the needs of the agricultural market of Ukraine.The researcher notes that today, only a small number of agricultural producers are consumers of technological and managerial innovations, while small farms do not have such an opportunity.In this regard, insufficient access to information and lack of readiness for its independent practical implementation are the most substantial factors limiting farms' potential.
X. Hu et al. (2020) believe that agricultural counselling is primarily an activity that is advisory in nature and helps rural producers implement goals and objectives by finding solutions to various problems, identifying new opportunities, implementing changes, and coaching.Researchers suggest understanding that agricultural consulting services are a necessary element of the market and non-market relations system in the agro-industrial complex.Researchers argue that they represent an essential component of the infrastructure of the agricultural market, and it is difficult to disagree with them.Researchers consider the institutional transformation of the agricultural complex in synergy with the need to develop consulting for the effective functioning of agriculture and rural areas or monitoring information and consulting activities as the basis of farm management.Results of scientific research by X. Hu et al. (2020) show that small forms of agricultural production -farms have a higher resource efficiency level than large and medium-sized agribusiness structures.Given the limited availability of land, they exhibit higher productivity and self-reproduction ability.The forecast of the trend in the development of agricultural production shows that conjunctural industry requirements in the future will increasingly depend on the supply of a small sector of agricultural production.
Researchers D. Cheng et al. (2023) identify specific prerequisites for agricultural consulting, among which the main ones are the following: -features of the living conditions of the rural population that form the system of functioning of the farmer community and, accordingly, the need to ensure the conditions for its reproduction; -characteristic features of production, which is a biological process that involves living organisms (soil, plants, animals), which determines the synergy of economic processes in farming activities with the processes of natural reproduction; -seasonality of agricultural production, which causes uneven use of labour, land, machinery, and other material resources by period of the year; -dependence on natural and climatic conditions and features makes it necessary to ensure the reproduction of a strong material and technical base.
Taking the listed prerequisites as a basis, the main specific features of agricultural consulting of farms can be listed, including: high labour intensity of the process; instability, uncertainty, and complexity of forecasting related to weather and climatic conditions of the area; urgent need to optimise production processes due to seasonal shortage of basic resources (labour, material, financial); high responsibility and risk level due to the presence of living biological objects and short shelf life of products; the need to track many processes occurring in parallel and characterised by mutual influence; the need for large amounts of information from different sources; high urgency of solving problems due to seasonality of production; complexity problems of farms.
Based on the findings of M. Väre et al. (2021), which consider consulting support as the main prerequisite for the development of innovation activities in rural areas, it can be argued that consulting of the agro-industrial complex, and farms, in particular, has substantially expanded the scope of its functioning today, becoming a basic element of the agricultural market system.Therewith, researchers note that increasing the productivity of farms based on agricultural consulting provides for a gradual and effective achievement of goals that include: -optimisation of the overall financial and economic situation by increasing production volumes, effective saving of resources, and efficient use of assets; -strengthening the status in the agricultural market, developing new sales areas and diversifying production; -formation of high indicators of production stability through the stabilisation of resource reserves and the use of risk insurance opportunities.
In the study by R. Weir et al. (2023), it is noted that the formation of a highly productive competitive agricultural sector, and farms in particular, largely depends on the economic motivations of participants in the production process.Therewith, according to researchers, the main condition for the formation of positive economic dynamics in this industry is the competitiveness of the proper level.It is necessary to supplement such conclusions of researchers with the fact that competitive ability is primarily associated with an effective management system and strategy for developing agricultural market entities, which is ensured by the effective attraction of agricultural consulting opportunities.Therewith, the researchers note that consulting in the field of agriculture, particularly in the case of farms, is characterised by a high dependence on environmental factors and, therefore, requires prompt adaptation of the structure to the dynamics of tasks depending on needs.In addition, management measures to increase farm productivity require integrating and combining efforts with scientific, educational, and statistical opportunities, their synergy to maintain an up-to-date database and develop innovative technologies, innovations, and best practices.According to researchers, the success of management tools to increase the productivity of farms based on agricultural consulting depends mostly on flexibility, the ability to change and develop, and the predominance of informal relations over formal ones.
Based on the results obtained in this study and the conclusions of the authors of the above-analysed studies, it is possible to predict the growth of the role of agricultural consulting in the implementation of successful management policies of farms, which will substantially increase their productivity indicators, implement innovative solutions and ensure compliance with the principles of a closed-cycle economy.

CONCLUSIONS
As a result of the study, it was possible to analyse the multi-factorial management paradigm of increasing farm productivity based on agricultural consulting to assess the role and place of consulting in the system of agrarian transformations.In the course of the study, it was established that the development of agricultural advisory services plays a substantial role in increasing agricultural productivity, strengthening food security, and optimising the population's living standard in rural areas.It is determined that consulting provides practical and effective support to rural producers who can quickly respond to new challenges, including transformations in the global food and agricultural system, growing importance of food safety standards, increased competition in agribusiness, degradation of the natural resource base and climate change.Objective conditions of the functioning of advisory services in the modern market economy in Ukraine are analysed.It is proved that the government should play a leading role in developing agriculture and its information support.In addition, its appropriate functions should be innovative production, control of the impact of agricultural production on the environment, and regulation of food quality and safety standards.It is established that implementing these goals is possible due to advisory support and support of agricultural activities.It is noted that strategic planning, operational management, and developing an effective farm policy should be positioned as integral components of strategic management.
The paper examines the economic-organisational components of the consulting process, identifies its specific features in the market economy of developing countries, and trends and prerequisites for its dynamic development.The levers of economic regulation of information transformations in agricultural production are examined, and the main elements of the mechanism for ensuring stable, effective consulting activities are identified.Special attention is paid to examining the management system's effectiveness in the farms' competitiveness and productivity.In addition, it is established that the regulatory and legal environment should perform the primary function of forming performance indicators, which should include developing adapted models of management tools and professional and effective agricultural consulting.A practical approach to the farm management system involves a hub of methods and tools in a set of relationships that can increase the level of productivity and competitiveness of farms.It should be based on implementing a development strategy formed based on professional agricultural consulting as an integral part of the management paradigm.
Based on the results obtained in the paper, priority vectors of further research on the subject are proposed, and the need to organise the availability and systematisation of information on agricultural consulting of farms is justified.There is a need to study further the possibilities of applying management measures, using international practical experience and developing optimal programmes for increasing the productivity of agricultural production.Together, such measures will allow solving the existing complex situations in the field of farm production and identifying reserves to increase its efficiency, considering the combination of factors affecting the internal and external environment.фермерських господарств з залученням можливостей сільськогосподарського дорадництва, окреслено подальші перспективи його розвитку.Запропоновані основні заходи з оптимізації ситуації в досліджуваній галузі.Практична значимість результатів дослідження розглядається в можливості їх застосування в процесі розробки відповідних програм, що мають на меті підвищення ефективності управління фермерськими господарствами, зростання показників продуктивності виробництва та конкурентоспроможності продукції, а також формування стабільної ефективної системи сільськогосподарського консалтингу в Україні Ключові слова: природоохоронна територія; стратегічний менеджмент; моніторинг; прогнозування; конкурентоспроможність; рентабельність; дорадництво the possibility of changes in the process of implementing strategic management under the influence of external and internal factors 2 Possibility of implementation Defining an organisation's strategic development goals involves considering its external and internal resources to assess the possibility of their implementation 3 Structure The strategic management process should have a structure, regulation, and implementation algorithm 4 Perspective The priority is the prolonged development of the organisation in the future 5 Economic effect The implementation of management measures should, at a minimum, bring the effect of cost compensation 6 Monitoring The implementation of management measures should be a fully controlled process, with established benchmarks and performers 7 Consistency

Figure 1 .Table 2 .
Figure 1.The process of strategic management in farms Source: M. Horikhovskyi (2018)Table 2. Factors influencing the farm management process Factors The essence of influence Natural-climatic conditions Direct influence of the natural environment on production activities Territorial dispersion of production Complexity of timely operational decision-making and adjustment of strategic plans Seasonality High level of risk when implementing selected productivity strategies Limited product diversification Disparity in prices for agricultural products Organisational and legal forms of business management Farms are substantially affected by external factors of varying strength and degree of action Gammon, 2020;Agnolucci et al., 2020;