At the current stage of development, Ukrainian farmers are facing unprecedented challenges: russia's military aggression, polish farmers blocking the import of Ukrainian agricultural products to the EU across the Ukrainian-Polish border, etc. In such circumstances, diversification of production through the development of niche production should become an important element of eliminating existing and potential agricultural risks. Niche production in agriculture is the cultivation of niche crops and breeding of niche animal species. Mushroom cultivation is also a niche industry, as it requires much less land than field farming, and competition in the domestic and global mushroom market is relatively low due to its rapid growth. The global mushroom market is segmented on the basis of six criteria: type of mushroom, product form, distribution channels, end-use, company profile, and geographic region.
Ukrainian producers have a good chance of gaining a foothold in the international mushroom market in the champignon production niche. This is due to the well-developed production of third-phase compost in Ukraine. Due to the resumption of russia's large-scale invasion (24.02.2022), consumption of mushrooms in Ukraine has decreased, which automatically led to a reduction in their production. Nevertheless, there is a shortage of third-phase compost due to the closure of composting facilities in the eastern regions of the country and a decrease in production in central and western regions of the country. Prior to the resumption of russia's large-scale invasion, Ukraine exported mainly third-phase compost and only 4 % of finished products. In order to restore pre-war production volumes at all stages of the mushroom production chain, it is necessary to relocate production to the western regions of the country, increase the use of alternative energy sources and train qualified personnel.
Key words
classification, market, mushrooms, production, compost, third phase, champignons, export, import