Volyn occupies one of the leading places in the Western region of Ukraine in the production of meat and milk, and per capita last year it held second place in meat production and third place in milk production in the state, the Western Information Corporation was told on December 2 by the main statistics department in Volyn Oblast.
The main producers of livestock products are household farms, whose share since the late 1990s accounted for 81-72% of the total volume of agricultural products produced, while the share of agricultural enterprises was only a fourth to a fifth.
Agricultural enterprises of Volyn are mostly small-scale. About 58% of farms keep fewer than 100 head of cattle, only every fifth to sixth has more than 500 head, but it is precisely in such farms that 72% of the livestock is concentrated and more than 69% of cattle are sold for slaughter.
In recent years, a reduction in livestock numbers at agricultural enterprises has been observed in the oblast. Over the past six years, cattle numbers decreased by 13% annually. Last year the rate of decline slowed to 5.5%. This positive trend has continued this year as well.
In the structure of livestock production in the oblast, cattle breeding traditionally predominates, with its share in 2004 amounting to 60%, a fifth accounted for pig breeding, 17% for poultry farming and slightly more than 1% for other livestock sectors: sheep breeding, rabbit breeding, beekeeping.
During the 9 months of this year, enterprises sold for slaughter about 11 thousand tonnes of poultry meat, which is 1.3 times more than last year. The main producers of poultry meat, which account for 99.5% of the total volume, are the Volodymyr-Volynskyi poultry factory and the Lokachi poultry enterprise "Hubyn."
During January-September of the current year, farms of all categories produced almost 57 thousand tonnes of meat in live weight, 414 thousand tonnes of milk, and 194 million eggs. Compared with the corresponding period of last year, the production of these types of agricultural products increased. In agricultural formations, livestock productivity has significantly improved. Average daily gains of cattle in raising, fattening and grazing increased by 6%, pigs by 17%, and average milk yield by 16%.
From the sale of livestock products over nine months, agricultural enterprises received almost 216 million hryvnias, or 77% of total revenues, which is one and a half times more than in the corresponding period of last year. More than 67% of the total amount came from the sale of cattle and poultry, a third from the sale of milk. About 33 million hryvnias were subsidy funds and surcharges provided for by government resolutions.