ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF RURAL AREAS IN UKRAINE: CURRENT REALITIES

Abstract

The article addresses the current challenges facing rural areas in Ukraine, particularly the excessive plowing of land and the consequences of intensive agricultural use. The aim of the article is to analyze and systematize existing research on the environmental characteristics of Ukraine's rural territories. The study presents an analysis of the main ecological and economic threats associated with soil degradation and the loss of soil fertility, which pose a direct risk to the agricultural sector and the socio-economic development of rural communities. The research justifies the need to reduce arable land areas and implement environmentally sustainable farming practices, such as organic farming, as a means of preserving land productivity. Data is provided on soil fertility loss and the annual damages, which amount to billions of hryvnias. It has been identified that the main cause of land degradation is excessive plowing, accounting for nearly 54% of the country's land fund, with some regions reaching up to 80%. The study also highlights significant regional differences in the degree of soil degradation, showing that the steppe and forest-steppe zones are the most affected, with the most impacted regions being Kharkiv, Sumy, Chernihiv, Kirovohrad, and others. A sharp decline in the total volume of mineral fertilizer application after 1990 has been identified, which is associated with a deep transformational crisis that led to a reduction in agricultural production, its unprofitability, and a payment crisis. Agricultural enterprise managers, in an attempt to optimize costs, minimized the purchase and application of mineral fertilizers, laying a time bomb under the future fertility of the soil. It is argued that organic farming is essential as a driver for the development of Ukraine's rural areas—it requires significantly more manual labor compared to traditional agricultural technologies, which boosts employment and holds strong market potential, as the demand for organic food in developed countries, particularly in the EU, is growing rapidly. The study emphasizes the necessity to change approaches to land resource use, reduce exploitation intensity, and support rural communities through the promotion of organic farming.