Increased import of raspberries from Ukraine to the entire EU makes cultivation in Poland unprofitable. Current purchase prices are 6.5 to 7 PLN/kg of raspberries, which is below the profitability level – we read on the Radio Maryja portal. Growers in Poland fear that purchase prices will fall because the price pressure from Ukraine is too great. Farmers are demanding market regulation at the EU level and are considering protests.
Ukrainian is replacing Polish
As Sylwester Dziewulski from the Lublin Chamber of Agriculture told Radio Maryja, according to Polish growers, import from Ukraine currently amounts to several thousand tons and has led to a drastic reduction in purchase prices. Even if Ukrainian raspberries did not flow directly to Poland, other EU countries buy them as well. As a result of price pressure, Polish fruit is being forced out of the EU market, and not only. Poles are slowly losing, among others, Scandinavian markets, where we used to export a lot of frozen raspberries.
Growers' demands
Our growers cannot compete with Ukraine, because production costs are much lower there, and the standards and requirements that farmers must meet are much more lenient. That is why farmers are calling on the government to take action to protect the interests of Polish producers.
The basic postulate is to pressure the EC to introduce quotas for the import of raspberries and other soft fruits to the EU. The government should also tighten control systems, and Polish services should meticulously control fruit transports from Ukraine.
-This product is supposed to supplement our market, not destroy it. We have a number of services at the border that should check all transports, not selectively – indicated Sylwester Dziewulski.
As admitted by a representative of agricultural chambers, Lublin farmers are seriously considering resuming protests and blockades after the completion of field work.
