ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF SELECTED OPTIONS OF STRAW USE DEPENDING ON HARVESTING TECHNOLOGY

Post-harvest straw deserves particular attention among agricultural raw materials. It can be intended for sale, applied as litter material in animal husbandry or used in field fertilization. To a lesser extent it can be used for fodder production, covering mounds of roots and tubers and the production of insulation materials in horticulture and building construction. Using surplus straw directly for energy generation, including production of pellets and briquettes, should also be considered rational. Several applications were analyzed. The main purpose of the research is to determine the profitability level of winter wheat cultivation and of energy use of the straw obtained. Among others, they included situations in which obtained straw was used in the production of pellets, in fertilization after prior grinding and mixing with manure or used for direct sale. For our calculations, the costs/ha of wheat cultivation and then straw collection were estimated. The comparative analysis of various options of wheat straw utilization shows the highest profitability in the option of selling the straw and mineral fertilization.