In the paper it is outlined the main methodological positions and the results of the approbation of new approaches to the integrated assessment of the potential of crop yields. There are considered the theoretical foundations of a joint assessment of the biological, ecological and anthropogenic components of the yield potential of agricultural crops which are based on the ecosystem concept and the mathematical model "Weather-Crop Yield" developed by V. P. Dmytrenko. In the considered approaches the peculiarities of the influence of various environmental factors on the formation of crop yields are determined by indicators of various potential yields -  general, climatic and trend (agrotechnological). Each type of yield potential can be used for evaluation of the effectiveness of the conditions of field crop growing for each factor taken into account, as well as the optimality criterion in the agrometeorological adaptation strategies and also as a criterion for the degree of sensitivity of the yield level to the conditions of crops cultivating. The developed approaches are tested on the example of estimation of long-term dynamics of winter wheat yield potential in Ukraine. According to the results of the evaluation of different factors of the potential of the productivity of winter wheat for the periods 1961-1990 and 1991-2010 the dominant importance of organizational and technological processes in comparison with the contribution of changes of agroclimatic conditions has been determined in both periods.