Between 2007 and 2009, Ukraine's large agricultural holdings (agroholdings) trended upwardly (some years by 1 million hectares). Since then, agroholdings over 10,000 ha have decreased significantly. What are the prospects for future developments of agroholdings in Ukraine? Is further land consolidation expected? What will be the impact of changes on the agricultural sector? This chapter answers these and other questions relevant to the development of Ukraine's agriculture in general and of agroholdings in particular.

A b s t r a c tSpatial and temporal variability of growing conditions which affects the production process management is characteristic of agrophytocenosis. Spatial heterogeneity of soil essential properties is widely reported. A precision fertilization should be effective tool to control crop productivity. The highest potential of such fertilization could be expected for vegetable crops in the favorable soil and climatic conditions of the Nechernozemie of North-West Russia. In a microvegetation stationary two-factor experiment, plastic bottom-less pots of 1 m 2 area were used to artificially form the upper part of the soil profile (A arable 0-22 cm and А 2 В 22-40 cm horizons) simulating natural lithogenic mosaics of agro sod-podzolic sandy, sandy loam, light loam and medium loam soils subjected to weak and good cultivation. Their minimum, maximum, and average parameters for the 0-22 cm horizon were as follows: рН KCl of 4.34-6.35 and 5.40, humus content (by Tyurin) of 0.92-2.50 and 1.72 %, labile phosphorus and potassium (according to Kirsanov) of 125-550 and 390 mg/kg and 22-400 and 209 mg/kg, respectively. The vegetable crop rotation included black radish (Raphanus sativ-. For a comparison, we used different system of fertilization, i.e. control (no fertilizers); zonal system (ZS); precision fertilization 1 (PF-1); precision fertilization 2 (PF-2). In the ZS providing for a uniform application of the fertilizers based on the average soil properties, we used lime (4.5 t/ha + N 95 Р 20 К 125 ) for black radish; manure (45 t/ha) + N 100 Р 30 К 90 for potatoes; N 130 Р 50 К 150 for beetroot; lime (2.1 t/ha) + manure (50 t/ha) + N 120 Р 10 К 90 for cabbage; and N 100 Р 40 К 130 for carrot. In the PF-1, two months before the radish was sown a precision soil cultivation has been performed using lime at 0-20 and 6.6 t/ha, peat at 0-900 and 390 t/ha; phosphorite flour at 0-750 and 94 kg/ha; potassium sulfate at 0-1710 and 407 kg/ha (as min-max and average). Further application of organic and mineral fertilizers before sowing (planting) was uniform, i.e. N 70 К 60 for black radish; manure (45 t/ha) + N 80 К 100 for potatoes; N 100 Р 30 К 130 for beetroot; manure (50 t/ha) + N 100 Р 10 К 70 for carrot; N 100 Р 10 К 120 for white cabbage. In PF-2 providing average doses of all fertilizers equal to these in ZS, but differentiated for each pot based on actual soil parameters, we used lime The experiments were arranged in four replications. In a field experiment the precision fertilization provided an increase in the productivity of vegetable crop rotation of 22.3 and 43.5 t/ha in control and ZS, respectively, to 47.9-49.4 t/ha. PF-1 and PF-2 resulted in the Сv reduction from 32 % and 16 % in the control and ZS to 9 %, and in an increased natural profitability of fertilizers by 21-49 %. A responsiveness of vegetable crop rotation to precision fertilization depended on biological features, the specific farming techniques and soil conditions. A decreasing responsiveness was as follows: black radish > car-rot  beet > potatoe...

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