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The European market plays a significant role in vegetables production and translates into the import and export possibilities for Polish products. This, in turn, affects the price of vegetables;  compared to the previous year, prices have soared. However, it is worth noting that prices for the end customer in supermarkets are often two or three times higher than those of manufacturers. This stems from the fact that there are still many immediacies that affect the final price. – Unfortunately, the risk resulting from production is borne by farmers – said Anna Wilczyńska PhD. from the vegetables.pl portal during the conference. – The past year was difficult, because we faced many challenges, the war in Ukraine, increases in fuel, fertiliser and energy prices, rampant inflation. All this influenced the vegetable market in Poland – said Wilczyńska, who opened the conference by analysing the condition of individual products. Last year, Poland recorded a 3-4% decrease in onion production,  Poland together with Germany and Romania, which accounts for 52% of the entire cabbage production. Wielkopolska is the largest concentration of producers. – Now, we can observe increased interest in carrots. In 2022, 590,000 tons were harvested; the production area was nearly 14 hectares - said Anna Wilczyńska.     

Fertilisers and their impact on crops!

The fertilisers reduction and increasing yields generated an avid interest. This is particularly important from the point of view of farmers and the rising fertilisers prices. There are possible solutions. – It is very important to select the fertiliser precisely, which is why soil analysis, pH regulation and good site preparation are so important – argued Iwona Polewska-Jankowiak from Agrosimex, adding that the research confirmed that properly selected fertilisers guarantee success and higher yields. A progressing climate change results in constant changes in the techniques and technology of fertilisation; the availability of nutrients in the soil influences uptake. – Legal changes that affect fertilisation and force the introduction of modern solutions are also important. The nitrates directive, the NEC and the European Green Deal are the game changers - said the representative of Agrosimex.

Can Poland run out of early vegetables?

The participants of the debate talked about this for an hour -  Adam Paradowski from Plantpress chaired the discussion which brought together Doctor Engineer  Aleksandra Czerwińska-Nowak, editor-in-chief of Szklarnie Tunele Opieki, Krzysztof Kubatko, vegetable advisor, Marcin Bednarek, pepper producer and Mariusz Kwiatkowski, representative of the seed company. The discussion showed that the subject is not so simple, and many factors affect the market of early vegetables.

Influence of protection and nutrition of vegetable cultivation

Patryk Smoleń from Timac Agro talked about the proper nutrition of vegetables in the era of limited availability of fertilisers. – Intensive vegetable cultivation requires the appropriate level of humus content. Our company is very responsible in the domain of fertilisation processes, this process is aided by modern equipment - argued the Product Manager in his speech. Rafał Żmuda and Władysław Tokarczyk from Syngenta analysed the risk resulting from the cultivation of vegetables and tried to suggest how to minimise the hazards. The season in vegetable protection was summed up by Marcin Niedobylski from Agrospec, who talked about what to pay attention to in the era of reduced availability of active substances.

Polish vegetables in supermarkets

Finally, Adam Paradowski from Plantpress raised an interesting topic - Polish products in large-format stores. – Everything indicates that it can be an interesting season not only in terms of prices but also in terms of the availability of vegetables – he agreed. – Prices in supermarkets are often two or even three times higher than those of producers’ –  Anna Wilczyńska from the website rekrutacja.pl. The vegetable conference was one of five seminars organised at the TSW Fruit and Vegetable Farming Expo in Targi Kielce. They featured 50 speakers who discussed individual markets and analysed the current situation of the industry.

(ŁK)