July 10 2006, 16:04

Poltava cucumber producers are uptight about competition with southern oblasts

In the first decade of July professional cucumber producers of Poltava oblasts started harvesting the crop for fresh market and as raw material for canneries.

Local processing enterprises, including VERES company - the largest cannery in the oblast - started to actively purchase cucumber from farmers and other local producers. The representatives of the canneries say cucumber purchase process is much better than at the same period of time past year. Weather conductions favor this crop much, so the producers expect harvest to be significantly better than in 2005. However, there is obviously some bad news to the farmers - there will be no such purchase prices for cucumber as they were a year ago.

In addition to increased local production, Poltava cucumber growers are threatened by the serious competition from the side of southern regions, mainly Mykolaiv oblast. Cucumber cultivation area is reported to be extended much in the latter region.

The situation in cucumber production fully corresponds to the tentative forecasts done by the Agricultural Marketing Project. Two previous years were notable for poor harvest which stimulated high prices and, as a result, more producers were encouraged to grow this crop. Processing enterprises contributed much to the extension of cucumber acreage: they attracted the suppliers of raw materials by favorable terms of cooperation.

This year, if weather is favorable, cucumber harvest can be 60-70% larger than in 2005 in Ukraine.