Economic efficiency of organizing production processes in agriculture

Production efficiency is an economic category based on the operation of a system of objective economic laws and reflecting one of the main aspects of production — performance as a form of expressing the goal of modern market production.

An effect is a consequence or result of certain activities carried out in agriculture. For example, the effect of fertilizer application is expressed in a harvest increase, and the use of high-quality feed results in an increase in live weight gain or milk yield. The obtained effect does not directly show the profitability of using fertilizers or feed. To determine how they pay off, it is necessary to compare the result obtained in monetary terms with the expenses incurred for the purchase of fertilizers and feed. Therefore, it is important to identify not only the effect but also the overall results of production, or its economic efficiency. The final result of production largely depends on how rationally the work is organized.

Economic efficiency of the rational organization of basic production processes is defined as the ratio of the effect to the costs incurred for it:

EEf = E/C, where E is the effect (result); C is the costs of organizing production processes.

Let us consider the organization of production processes using the example of sowing cereal crops. Here it is necessary to take into account: ◊ the timeliness of sowing, especially in areas with insufficient soil moisture; ◊ the correspondence of the tractor class and the number of seeders in the unit to the field area; ◊ the daily productivity of the prepared unit, which must be such that it ensures the sowing of the area of the sown field; with group operation of units, the field area must be no less than the total daily output of all units. When assembling a unit, the tractor power, the draft resistance of the implements on the drawbar, and the specific soil resistance are taken into account. It is important to correctly choose a rational method of unit movement. The main methods of movement for sowing units are shuttle, overlapping, diagonal-cross, and plot-based.

After choosing a rational method of movement, the field is prepared for work: headlands are marked out, and the area of the plot being processed is divided into plots. Usually, each sowing unit corresponds to its own plot. For example, for a field area of 100—120 ha, one three-seeder unit is allocated. To determine the width of the plot C, the formula is used

C = Wday∙D∙104/l, where Wday is the unit productivity per day, ha; D is the established time frame for completing the work, days; l is the length of the run, m; 104 is the number of square meters in 1 ha. Example 7.1. If the daily productivity of the unit is 50 ha, the work completion time is 2 days, and the length of the run is 2000 m, then the plot width in this case will be C = 50∙2∙104 / 2000 = 500 m. This corresponds to a plot area of 100 ha (50 ha∙2 days).

What is meant by a production process? 2. How do production processes in agriculture differ from those in industry? 3. Into what components are production processes divided? 4. What types of auxiliary processes exist in agriculture? 5. Characterize the maintenance process of production. 6. What stages does a technological process consist of? 7. On what grounds are technological processes classified? 8. What is meant by a production cycle? What parts does it consist of? 9. How do the peculiarities of agriculture influence the duration of production cycles? 10. Which formula is used to determine production efficiency