PLANT GROWING
PLANT GROWING, a branch of agriculture concerned with cultivation of crops for further manufacture of horticultural products (human food products, fodder for livestock breeding, raw materials for various branches of industry). It includes the following branches: field crop production, vegetable growing, fruit growing, viticulture, meadow culture, forestry, floriculture. The active development of P.g. started at the 2nd half of the 16th century. Graingrowing is the leading field, such industries as sugar beet, pea, buckwheat, vegetables and fodder production have also received significant development. In 2015, the sowing area of agricultural crops in all categories of farms amounted to (thous. ha): total — 3,061, including grain crops — 1,757, fodder crops — 908, technical crops — 290, vegetable crops — 16. In the structure of the sowing area, the share of rural areas accounts for 72.2%, peasant (farmer) farms and individual entrepreneurs — 24.1%, subsidiary farms — 3.8%. Production of P.g. products in farms of all categories amounted to (thous. t): grain — 3,005, sugar beet — 1,301, potatoes — 1,134, sunflower seeds — 242, vegetables — 366. Yield (Cwt/ha): grain crops — 17.8, sugar beet — 258.5, vegetable crops — 186.7, potatoes — 126,
sunflower seeds — 11.9.
