Changes in Sugar Beet Production in Czechia and Poland in Recent Years
2020
Smutka, Lubos | Kotyza, Pavel | Pawlak, Karolina et al.
The Czech Republic (Czechia) and Poland belong among major beet sugar producers in the Central European region. From a European point of view, it is necessary to mention the long-term trend of improvement in beet production in the Czech Republic and Poland. The main objective of the presented paper is to identify the main differences in sugar beet production between the two countries and to assess the developmental changes in production that took place between 2000 and 2017. The results of the analysis show the following facts. During the monitored period, there was a significant reduction in the number of Polish growers; this trend, however, was offset by a significant increase in the area of cultivated beet, which more than doubled on average per one grower. The decrease in the number of growers and the total cultivated area was compensated by a significant increase in yields at relatively stable sugar content, resulting in rather stabilized production. In Czechia, the reporting period saw an increase in sugar beet production. As in Poland, there was a decrease in the number of growers, although not so significant. However, the decline in the number of growers was more than offset by the increase in harvest areas and, in particular, by an increase in average yields per hectare. For both countries there is a significant level of production concentration in the case of a limited number of growers. As for final production, the results of the analysis show that sugar production in both countries is significantly concentrated. The weakness of both Czech and Polish sugar beet growers is their limited bargaining power with sugar factories.
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