March 20 2007, 16:47

What the price for early potato will look like in Ukraine in 2007?

In line with the forecasts done by the analysts of "Agrooglyad: Vegetables and Fruits", the prices for marketable potato are considerably lower this season when a year ago. This situation came into reality due to significantly increased production of late potato in fall 2006. All market players know well that early potato, entering the market in May each year, substantially affects the prices for the past year harvested potato. As a result, the question of the prices for early potato and the date of the entrance of this product on market are traditionally urgent in March-April.

According to evaluations of the analysts of "Agrooglyad: Vegetables and Fruits" weekly journal, there is a great possibility that early potato (grown under film and agro-fiber) ripens earlier this year in the southern regions of Ukraine, Zakarpattya oblast in particular.

It is expected that the first wholesale shipments of early potato enter the market as soon as on the 18th-21st of April. If we consider the significant supply of the marketable potato of 2006 harvest and a relatively low price for this product, we can expect the prices for early potato are not likely to grow this season comparing to the previous year. Moreover, the experts think that the prices will be 25-30% lower than in 2006 for the field-grown potato.

We'd like to mention that there are fairly good perspectives for the growth of late potato production in 2007 due to the fact that the production of this crop is still highly cost-efficient. The more detailed information on the potato production and price forecast, done by the analysts of "Agrooglyad: Vegetables and Fruits" journal, will be available mid April.