Problems of lettuce production in open ground and peculiarities of his growing in conditions of small- manufacture production (on the example of LLC "Vesely agronom" Dmitrovskiy district of Moscow region)

Experts of the World Health Organization (WHO) came to the conclusion that a healthy lifestyle is impossible without 7 types of vegetables: cabbage, carrots, onions, tomato, pepper, broccoli and garden cress. Their minimum consumption is 220 g/day for 1 person. This predetermines the task of increasing the production of vegetables and a significant expansion of the range of vegetable products. According to FAOSTAT, the volume of production of lettuce and leaf chicory in 2016 amounted to 24.896116 million tons, which is 2.2% of the total production of vegetables (melon is not included). The largest producer in the world is China, which produces 54.2%. In the United States, 20.5% are produced, and in the EU - 13.9% of the total volume of lettuce and leaf chicory worldwide. The article shows the experience of LLC "Vesely Agronom", which rents floodplain meadowlands in the Dmitrovsky district since 2012 and grows lettuce and leaf chicory. Their production in the open ground is carried out by seedling method with the use of film greenhouses. Analysis of the production of lettuce shows that their sown area increased from 11 hectares in 2013 to 70 hectares in 2017, and the volume of sold products - from 50 to 650 tons, respectively. The profit from sales increased over 5 years from 1.27 million rubles in 2013 to 7.8 million rubles in 2017. In the structure of costs, seeds and seedlings account for 24%, and the share of wages - 29%.