COMPETITION FOR SPACE BETWEEN CEREALS AND OIL CROPS IN TERMS OF ITS WORLDWIDE DYNAMICS

Cereals and oil crops are primary crops worldwide both in terms of their production and cropped area. Production of these two groups in the last four decades has been developing dynamically and – as it is indicated by forecasts – will continue to do so in the future. Development of cereal and oil crop production results from the constantly growing food demand for processing products of both these types of crops, as well as the non-food demand, developing significantly in recent years. Plant production may be increased through an increase in yields or in cropped area, or at the simultaneous effect of both these factors. The constantly growing demand for cereal and oil products and the limited land resources may cause competition for space between these two groups of crops. The aim of this study was to conduct investigations in order to verify whether such competition actually takes place.