European Union onion crops will rise by at least 1 million tonnes a year beyond the 3.9mt already produced when Poland and Hungary eventually join the community next year, English growers were told at their industry conference in Cambridge this week.
Professor Frank Adamicki of the research institute of vegetable crop science at Skierniwice in Poland also expects that yields will increase as growers become better at production however he maintained that Polish integration could be difficult. "The cost of field-vegetable production in Poland is lower compared with other EU countries, mostly because of low labour cost and lower input of other factors," he told delegates at the event which is held every two years. "From that point of view, onions are competitive with other EU countries."
Meanwhile, with the English crop making £200 a tonne - three times as much as last season - the conference was in optimistic mood. David Hodgson, chairman of the British Onion Producers' Association said that this season the industry has enjoyed some of its highest levels of publicity citing the launches of the Supasweet variety and the shallot website. "Onions are always in demand," he said. "We must find more ways to use this simple knowledge."
He added that although English growers have to meet the toughest standards in the world from both the retail and the food processing industries, they were still moving forward.
No comments yet