FOCUS ON POLAND
With 60% of its land arable, Poland is an important European and global producer of several agricultural, horticultural, and animal products. Now the industry is facing new challenges brought on by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Poland joined other countries in banning imports of Ukrainian grain. When the EU decided not to extend the restrictions in mid-September, Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary enacted their restrictions. The transit of the products was still allowed. An agreement signed on Oct. 3 between Poland, Ukraine, and Lithuania transferred product inspections from the Polish border to a Lithuanian port.
Poland is also one of the largest agri-food producers in Central and Eastern Europe and the sixth largest in the EU, according to USDA. Because of the higher yield potential and drought tolerance, winter crops occupy more land in Poland. This year, total cereal harvest is expected to drop 1% as rain in August extended the harvest time, leading to an increase in grain moisture, the development of fungal diseases, and a reduction in the protein level, Statistics Poland said. Harvest was complete in most of the country by the end of August.
The total cultivated area was estimated at 7.1 million hectares, including 2.4 million hectares of wheat, 700,000 hectares of rye, 600,000 hectares of barley, 500,000 hectares of oats, 1.2 million hectares of triticale, and 300,000 hectares of cereal mixtures. Harvest of basic cereals was estimated at 26.1 million tonnes, 3% down from last year. Winter cereal harvest was estimated at 21.9 million tonnes, 1% less than the previous year while spring cereal harvest was estimated at 4.2 million tonnes, down 14% from last year. Production of rapeseed and turnip rapeseed is expected to increase 1% to 3.7 million tonnes. In terms of food security, Poland ranks 22nd out of 113 countries and 14th among EU countries. A slight decrease in demand for poultry feed was offset by an increase in demand from pigs. Poland imports most protein-rich raw materials for feed production, including 2.6 million tonnes of soybean meal (about 70% from Argentina) and 400,000 tonnes of sunflower meal.
(Link: WorldGrain)
