Economic potential of potatoes in agribusiness

摘要

In the EU, potatoes represents 4.2% of the economic value of arable crops. The highest value is found in Belgium (10.7%), the UK (8.7%), the Netherlands (6.4%) and Germany (6.3%). In Germany, only 25% of the 14 million t harvested in 2001 were soldin the fresh market, while 42% went into agribusiness. Starch production (3.3 million t) is the main processing followed by dry products (0.9), frozen products (0.76), distilleries (0.36) and crisps (0.3 million t). The EU regulation of the starch marketis discussed as a negative factor. Because EU subsidies are lower than 0.9 billion EURO (2% of the agricultural budget), there is less pressure on reforms. From the eight future EU member countries, only Poland has a considerable potato production (20 million t, 40% of EU production). Because of inefficient production structures in the new member states, more export opportunities than import pressure is expected.