August 14 2007, 17:07

Russia: Onion Harvest Will Increase in 2007

As specialists of weekly fruit and vegetable CIS business inform "Agrooglyad: Vegetables and Fruits" , mass harvesting of onion began in the southern region of Russian Federation. According to producers' reports, this season they managed to gather much more onions than last year. This became possible as a result of more favorable weather conditions during the harvest ageing, also expansion of onion areas. This circumstance is confirmed by gradual reduction of prices for onion that are now indicated at the level of Ruble 7-10 per kilo depending on the volume of consignment and sales region.

It should be noted that last year there was not enough domestic onion to meet demand totally, but by October, 2006 there was almost lack of domestic onion supply at the market. It became stimulus to imports of this product increase. One of major suppliers of onion became Ukraine. This year, according to "Agrooglyad: Vegetables and Fruits" forecasts, onion production in Ukraine may decrease by 13% comparing to that last year, but it will remain relatively high - approximately at the level of the year 2005.

At the same time, in Andrew Yarmak, project manager of "Agrooglyad: Vegetables and Fruits"' opinion, onion yield in EU countries may increase essentially in 2007 comparing to that last year. That is why representatives of Russian wholesale companies would rather emphasize onion supplies from Holland and other European Union countries. The expert notes, in particular, that Russia is the world greatest importer of large onion; that is why suppliers from different countries are traditionally fighting for this country market. One cannot exclude that most onions shipped to Russia during new season will be grown in Poland, despite the embargo currently in force for fresh fruit and vegetable products from this country imports.

The leading experts of the industry will tell in more detail about price prospects for onion in autumn, also about other most important fruit and vegetable business aspects during the international conference work "Fruit& Vegetable Business of Russia 2007" held on October 23-25, 2007 on the territory of "Expocenter". In case ofregistration and payment for participation before September 10, companies can save Ruble 1,750 for their each representative cost. Note also that additional discounts are granted to domestic agro-producers!