DYNAMICS OF SOYBEAN PRODUCTION IN THE UKRAINE AND EUROPEAN UNION

The article highlights the importance of soybeans as one of the main leguminous crops. It occupies a leading position in export and processing for food and fodder purposes, and is also of strategic importance in ensuring food and economic security. The main prerequisites that led to the change in the position of this culture in the world were shifts in the structure of nutrition of the population of developed countries, associated with the transition from the use of animal fats to vegetable and oil, as well as an increase in the population in Asian countries and the rapid development of the livestock industry in European Union. Analyzing the sown areas of soybeans in the countries of the European Union, it should be noted that over the last ten years they have increased 1.7 times, from 2.65 million hectares in 2013 to 4.57 million hectares in 2022. In addition to the increase in sown areas, it should be noted that the gross harvest in the countries of the European Union has increased by 1.8 times over the past 10 years and increased from 5.4 million tons in 2013 to 9.8 million tons in 2022. That is, along with the increase in cultivated areas, the level of productivity also increases. Over the past 20 years, the area under soybeans in Ukraine has actually increased 20 times. At the beginning of the 2000s, soy was not yet considered the main crop, so it was not grown in large numbers - several tens of thousands of hectares. The main jump and then a rapid annual increase in area occurred in the period 2008-2015. Currently, the process has more o less stabilized, and fluctuations occur depending on the market situation and weather conditions. As for productivity, this indicator has also increased. If 20 years ago the USDA indicated the figure of the average yield of soybeans in Ukraine at the level of 1 t/ha, then the maximum, according to their data, was in 2018 and reached 2.6 t/ha, which affected the record gross harvest of soybeans - 4, 41 million tons. The analysis shows that over the past three years, the area of soybeans has decreased somewhat as a result of agro-climatic conditions and vegetation characteristics. However, in 2021 and 2022, a fairly high level of productivity was obtained - 2.68 and 2.46 t/ha. Therefore, Ukraine can play a significant role in supplying this culture to European markets.