October 27 2006, 11:43

The record volumes of vegetables will be loaded to storages this fall

Basing on information provided by vegetable and fruit producers, and also wholesale companies - traders of produce commodities, the analysis shows that the volumes of vegetables loaded to storages will be top record for Ukraine in 2006. At the present moment vegetable producers try to put the most part of carrot, table beet and cabbage harvest to storages. The thing is, many farmers consider the present prices to be underestimated.

At the same time, many analysts do not agree to the farmers' conclusions. According to the forecasts of the Agricultural Marketing Project (AMP), the production of carrot, table beet and cabbage in 2006 is likely to increase to the top record level for Ukraine. This fact will inevitably make the average prices for this commodities decline. If the produce in storages is not affected so much in 2007 as it was in winter 2006, the supply of root crops and cabbage will probably exceed the demand in spring 2007.

The extension of vegetable volumes in storages is supported by the dynamic development of the modern technologies of the produce storage which are becoming easier accessible in Ukraine. We have already informed that many medium and large producers and almost all wholesale companies construct new storages for produce commodities.

Nevertheless, these technologies still remain rather new for Ukraine; the need for quality produce storages is several times larger than the available capacities, to the opinion of A. Yarmak, the Deputy Director of the Agricultural Marketing Project. The problem is that hardly all market players possess information about the feasibility of the certain technology applied for the certain crop.

To provide the produce business players with the possibility to better understand the specifics of the various storage technologies for fresh produce, the organizers of the third international produce conference decided to devote the whole session to these questions. As of today, we say for sure that the conference participants will be able to get a rather good understanding concerning various technologies of fruit and vegetable storage tested in Ukraine or planned to be implemented. The reports of the companies from Holland, Italy, Poland, and Ukraine are included to the conference program; the participation of the other companies is expected to be confirmed soon. All conference participants will obtain the AMP reference books with the detailed information about various technologies.

Everybody concerned about the latest trends on the market of modern storage technologies for fruits and vegetables, and those who are willing to have the detailed information about such advanced technologies as CA, ULO, ILOS and other, please do not miss the most important event for the produce business 2006, the experts are advising.