Potato market

In the world potato takes the fifth place as to the amount of energy in a human nutrition after wheat, corn, rice and barley.

Potato production output is growing worldwide. Since 1991 till 2007 average annual increase rates and worked out 2.5%. Mainly the growth of production volume is provided by developing countries, where average annual growth rate is 8.5%. While there is a gradual decline of potato production among the developed countries, where the average rate of falldown is 1.7% per year. At the same time currently production and consumption of potato grows not as quickly, as the population of the planet.

About 150 countries of the world grow potato in different natural and climatic zones. But according to production volumes, in 2007 Ukraine was the fifth in the world after China, Russia, Poland and USA, but if to analyze only European countries, Ukraine is on the second places in potato production volumes among them. The share of UA in the world‘s potato production is 6.1%, a in the European one — 14.9%.

The potential potato yield differs highly from the world level, which is about 140–160 centner /ha. . For example, potato yield in the North America is 140 centner /ha, and in Europe — about 100 centner /ha. At the moment leaders Netherlands, Denmark and Belgium, where the potato harvest from a hectare exceeds 400 centners, are leaders in potato yield.

In Ukraine the average annual potato yield for the last five years has been 133 centner /ha. Although during recent years an average annual growth rate has been at the level of 1.1%, however in Ukraine potato yield is low if compare to other countries. Growth of the yield is mainly provided by agricultural enterprises, but not private family farming, share of which in potato production is about 98%, which is one of the highest indexes, if compared to analogical figures on other agricultural crops.

Potato prices have seasonal character: gradual price increase along with depression of stockage and decrease after the end of harvesting, when potato in big amounts, because their storage capacity is not good enough and people start buying potato to lay a store. During this period prices by 20–25% lower.

Low competitiveness of potato on our foreign market and insufficient amount of seed material, the volumes of import exceed the volumes of export. The basic importer of fresh, frappe potato is Egypt (in 2008 — 72.8% in US dollars), and leading suppliers of seeds are Netherlands (52%), Germany (21.4%) and Poland (16.2%).

According to consumption volumes and geographical prevalence potato occupies one of leading places in the structure of Ukrainian food production. So, according to the level of potato consumption per capita, Ukraine occupies the third place in the world after Byelorussia and Kyrgyzstan. In 2008 years average habitant consumed 131.8 kg of potato per year, or 360 grams of this product per day, while the norm of consumption is 123 kg per year. The real level of potato consumption is higher the norm by 7% . Potato, as relatively more cheaper product in the conditions of unstable economic situation and predominance of population low profits, is consumed in larger volumes, than more expensive products, such as meat, fish and fruit actual level of their consumption in the country is below normative.

Potato in Ukraine is mainly grown in the Poles’ya and Forest-Steppe areas, as there are the most favorable soil for this culture. The advantageous feature of potato is that it grows well in the Poles’ya and Forest-steppe area on poor sandy and sandy loam soils which are less suitable for grain-crops. The average level of the yield in these natural and climatic areas is by higher on 50%, comparing to the Steppe area of Ukraine.

Kyiv and Chernigiv regions are currently the leaders, both as to the volume of potato produced and as to the amount of the agricultural enterprises specialized on growing it.

Potato ranks traditionally an important place in the crop production structure. Its output reached 17-19.7 million tons during 2000-2010. A tendency is observed to its stable crop yield at the level of 130-139 centners/ha. Potato is mainly planted in individual farmers households. Polissya, Vinnytsia, Khmelnytsky and Lviv regions are the major regions to cultivate potato.