Fruit and veg prices low after bumper harvest
PR dla Zagranicy
Peter Gentle
03.10.2014 13:30
With a high level of agricultural production this year, prices of fruit and vegetables are low, but there may be problems with exports.
Photo: Glowimages
Prices on the Bronisze wholesale fruit and vegetable market near Warsaw are record-low this year. In the case of some vegetables, they have declined by as much as 40 percent in annual terms
Małgorzata Skoczewska, spokesperson for Bronisze, told Polish Radio that vegetable prices are low, even though production is only 5 percent higher than in 2013.
The Central Statistical Office (GUS) expects vegetable production to reach 4.2 million tonnes in 2014, which is higher than in 2013, but more than 7 percent lower than in 2006-2010.
Production volumes of fruit, including apples, may break records though. The expected total volume is 3.2 million tonnes, 3 percent more than last year.
Meanwhile, the Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics expects Polish food and agricultural product exports to decline by more than 2 percent year-on-year and amount to 19.9 billion euro in 2014, mostly due to Russia's embargo on the products.
In the first half of 2015 agricultural and food exports are expected to decline further, by 6 percent year-on-year to some 9.6 billion euro. (kw)
Sources: Polskie Radio, PAP