The paper examines the current state of pork production in Ukraine and in Kherson region in particular. The study reveals the main causes of the decline in pig farming on the basis of conducting a thorough evaluation of the conditions of its development over 26 years of the period of reforming the agricultural production during its transition to market relations in 1991–2017 as compared to 1990 in the agricultural enterprises of different economic entities in Ukraine and especially in Kherson region. On this basis possible main trends and resources for improving the efficiency of pork production were determined.

The indexes of the total number of pigs in the dynamics of the years prove the unsatisfactory level of the sustainable development of pig farming.

The total number of pigs in the farms of all types of ownership was about 1.0 million pigs in Kherson region at the beginning of the 90’s, in the 2000’s it fell to 0.2 million pigs, and in the period January-September of 2017 it made 0.08 million pigs or 12.5 times less.

Pig farming as a branch of agriculture in Ukraine has been highly developed. The analysis of the statistical data disproves such statements concerning the state and development of pig farming in Ukraine on the whole and in its separate regions in particular.

The study analyses the dynamics of the total number of pigs. It looks at the structure of the total head by the types of farms in Ukraine and Kherson region in 2017. The paper determines the main factors of the production decline which caused the current recession of the industry.

The study describes the causes of the reduction in the consumption of meat and meat products which reached a critical limit of the country’s food security.

The paper highlights the topical issues of determining the trends and resources for improving the efficiency of meat production, especially pork production in Ukraine to meet the demands of the population.

The study substantiates the trends of the development of pig farming for the nearest future, it examines the problem of a considerable decrease in pork production in Ukraine, the ways to improve the economic efficiency which need further thorough research, objective estimation, scientific substantiation and rapid implementation into production by agricultural enterprises.

Undoubtedly the number of economic advantages of animal husbandry on the whole and pig farming in particular at large agricultural enterprises as compared to individual farms has been unchangeable. Taking it into account we are convinced that pig farming in Kherson region and, unfortunately, in Ukraine on the whole has been developing in the worst way over all the years of the reforms in agriculture and its transition to market relations.

In the 90’s about 73 % of pigs out of the total number in Ukraine and 83.4 % in Kherson region were kept at agricultural enterprises, and the rest of them – in individual farms of the population. In the period January-September of 2017 49.5% of pigs were kept in the individual farms, but their number decreased only twice, and the agricultural enterprises reduced the total number of pigs four times.

The analysis of the absolute indexes of the total number of pigs and other indexes of pig farming persuasively proves the other in recent years.

To represent desirable facts as actual ones while evaluating the development of pig farming in Ukraine on the whole and in Kherson region in particular means to do harm to determining the resources and trends of restoring an important branch of animal husbandry. Only a thorough objective evaluation of the current state of pig farming in the farms of different types of ownership will become an engine for determining the ways and resources for restoration and further development of pig farming in the future.

A considerable reduction in the total number of pigs in Ukraine and separately in Kherson region led to a sharp decrease in pork production. At the beginning of the 90’s 1.5 million tons of pork was produced in slaughter weight in the farms of all the types of ownership, in the 2000’s it decreased to 0.5 million tons, and in the period January-September of 2017 0.4 million tons was produced or four times less, in 1990 in Kherson region it reached 78.6 thousand tons of slaughter weight, and in the 2000’s – only 23.9 thousand tons, and in the period January-September of the current year it was 21.2 thousand tons.

Pork production at the agricultural enterprises decreased 6 times for the period of the research, and it fell twice in the individual farms of the population.

As a hundred and two hundred years ago the predominant number of pigs is kept by individuals, the main activities of caring for the animals are performed by hand, and it cannot ensure efficient pork production and high financial interest of individual farms. A convincing proof of it is the refusal of an increasing number of the individuals to raise pigs. These data are confirmed by the statistics which persuasively proves that pig industry in Ukraine is at a primitive level.

In Ukraine pork production in slaughter weight calculated per capita was 30.4 kg in the 90’s, and in the 2000’s it made 11.2 kg, and in the period January-September of 2017 it was 8 kg.

In the 2000’s pork production in slaughter weight at the country’s agricultural enterprises calculated per capita was less than 4 kg or about 10 g per day on average.

The specific weight of pork in the total meat production of all categories of enterprises in the 20’s made 30.5 % that is extremely insufficient taking into account the farming, nature and climatic, economic conditions.

In the 90’s the gross grain production in Ukraine reached 50 million tons, and the expenditures of concentrates to feed cattle and poultry, mainly consisting of grain, were about 36 million tons. In recent years the expenditures of concentrates have decreased to 12 million tons, or three times as compared to those of the 90’s. It became one of the main reasons of a decrease in the amount of milk, meat, lard, eggs.

The study analyzes the dynamics of the total head of pigs. It looks at the structure of the total number of pigs by the categories of farms in Ukraine and Kherson region in 2017. The research determines the main factors of the production decline which caused the recession of the industry at present.

The study describes the causes of a decrease in consumption of meat and meat products by the population, which has reached a critical limit of the country’s food security.

The research outlines the topical issues of determining the trends and resources for improving the efficiency of meat production, pork in particular, in Ukraine to meet the population’s demands completely.

The study substantiates the trends of the development of pig farming for the nearest future, it examines the issues of a considerable decrease in pork production in Ukraine, the ways to improve the economic efficiency which need further thorough research, objective evaluation, scientific substantiation and rapid implementation into agricultural production.

Key words: pig farming, meat, production, agro-holdings, farms, slaughter weight, individual farms, complete feeds, Ukraine, Denmark, Canada, USA, FAO, WHO.