Information for fruit and vegetables business in CIS
Potato is in short supply in Poltava oblast despite of a good harvest
Some farms in Poltava oblast were able to have potato yield on the level of USD 400-420 centner/ha. In the whole oblast farmers assess new potato harvest as good, especially comparing to results achieved by their colleagues in other regions. The purchase price satisfied the majority of producers, who used appropriately the obtained market information and were not in a hurry to sell potato cheap. The main part of farms sold potato on USD 0.12-0.14/kg - past season the wholesale price on potato did not go higher USD 0.09/kg. However, the region faces deficit of potato even having good yield of it. The problem was caused first of all by severely contracting potato acreage in 2005 comparing to the previous year. Many producers experienced problems with potato sales past season, and this year some of them gave up growing potato or contracted the acreage extremely. The tentative decrease of potato acreage in 2005 comparing to 2004 is 15% according to AMP evaluations. At this moment many inquires from wholesale companies of Poltava and other oblasts of the country are coming to Poltava AMP office, but it is very hard to find the required volumes of potato in the region.
According to the data of the official statistics, in 2004 in Poltava oblast 942,000 tons of potato was grown, or 35% more than the average needs of the oblast. According to AMP prognosis, 31% decrease of potato croppage in the region can lessen significantly the abilities of the oblast to supply potato to the neighboring oblasts; the partial deficit of this product on oblast markets is also possible.