Information for fruit and vegetables business in CIS
In 2005 cucumber harvest will be record low in Ukraine - the Agricultural Marketing Project
The updated information about the assessed cucumber yield in Ukraine was provided by the specialists and clients of the Agricultural Marketing Project. It showed the real scale of the problems faced by the farmers - vegetable producers this year. According to the experts' evaluations, the cucumber acreage increased 18% comparing to 2004 and was a top record for the recent years; nevertheless the yield turned out to be the lowest. The cucumber production in 2005 was 40% lower than a year ago in Ukraine - at the same time the demand on this commodity grew 15-20% during a year. The non-satisfied demand, to the opinion of AMP analysts, amounts to 60-70%!
This year will go down in vegetable history of the country as one of the most difficult for the farmers - cucumber producers, and also canneries in Ukraine. According to the preliminary evaluations, nearly half of cucumber plantings died in the country, so that the producers suffered losses on more than 100 mln. UAH! And even those farmers, who managed to save the plants, in many cases harvested only 50-70% of the planned volumes, as the plantings were weak. In this situation exactly the most efficient cucumber producers, who manage their business professionally, were able to get the highest profit, as the prices reached top records.
We'll mention that it is already the second cucumber off year in Ukraine that hurt the national canneries as well. Many processing enterprises have been purchasing only 10-30% of the needed cucumber for the second year already and born losses. This season, to the opinion of the AMP analysts, Ukrainian consumers will have to face another price growth on pickled vegetables. Because of that, the commodity will become less competitive on inner and outer market, and the rates of consumption growth in Ukraine will be decreased too.
It is hard to speak now on cucumber production in 2006, cause some farmers lost money and harvest and do not want to hear anything about this crop; the others plan to extend acreage, encouraged by high prices. To the opinion of the agronomists, on purpose to avoid such catastrophes in future, the farmers should apply modern production technologies, and not to hope for the favorable weather conditions.
Everyone interested can speak about the perspectives on cucumber market, and also the technological aspects of cucumber production during the second international conference "Fruits and vegetables of Ukraine 2005" which will be held on 5th-7th of December 2005 in Kyiv.