Types of Agricultural Enterprises in Ukraine

In the Soviet Union most of the land was owned by the state, and so was in Ukraine. In 1988 a process began, which aimed to privatise the land in different stages. In 1998 6.9 million farm members received land share certificates as preliminary evidence of their ownership. Altogether there are more than 11 million people today, who are recognised as owners of land parcels.

The following three definitions are used in Ukraine to define categories of agricultural producers.

Agricultural Enterprises, also called large agricultural producers, include state farms, joint stock companies and partnerships of all types, agricultural cooperatives, farming units affiliated with industrial, transportation and other enterprises, organizations and scientific research institutes.

Private Households, also called household plots (including dacha plots) or small agricultural producers, include individual or family households with land estates, forms of agricultural production when an individual or a family manufactures commodities to satisfy the family needs in foods or with other purposes.

Private Farming is also generally considered to be small farmers: a form of free enterprise, using owned or rented lands and other assets. A private farmer operates his/her business unit to produce, sometimes process, and market agricultural commodities and is registered by the government as a farm.

To summarize, the Agricultural Enterprise category includes the largest farm holdings, such as former state and collective farms still struggling with post Soviet realities and the modern and efficient corporate style holdings. Private Households are comprised of individual and family rural households that produce food primarily for personal consumption, but also market a certain percentage of its commodities to supplement family income. Last, Private Farming is very similar to private households, but is registered as a business.

It is easier to think of agricultural enterprises as large farms, while the other two categories are small farms.

11. Decide which type of farm (agricultural enterprise, private household or private farming) is described?

ü Large-scale farms successors of former large state-owned farms (now registered under variety of names and ownership structures)

ü Activities of these farms are intended to cover mostly own consumption

ü Mostly small farms producing, sometimes processing and selling their agricultural produce.