This year’s drought also had a negative impact on the performance of the canning industry

(Illustration: AI)

This year’s drought did not make the work of the actors of the domestic canning industry any easier. Although the re-sowing of sweet corn and the harvesting of industrial tomatoes are still ongoing, based on the current data, average yields of sweet corn (14 t/ha) and weaker green peas (4.2 t/ha) have been achieved this season.

According to the overview of the National Chamber of Agriculture, in addition to yields that are lower than usual, there is also a problem with quality

Due to the unfavorable weather, there are more defective products, which reduces the rate of processing and the quantity of the finished product, thereby greatly impairing the efficiency of processing. Drought is a recurring problem every year in the cultivation of vegetables and fruits intended for use in the canning industry. The proportion of irrigated areas is still low, which worsens the production data and economic results in the drought years of this year and the previous ones. In recent years, the area utilized for growing vegetables in the fields has shown a decreasing trend, amounting to 74,000 hectares at the national level Farmers grow sweet corn on about 50 percent of the total crop area, and green peas on 25 percent, and the utilization of the remaining 25 percent is shared by more than 20 types of vegetables. The situation is similar for fruit orchards. Peaches and cherries are more important products for the canning industry. Fluctuations in the annual yield can also be observed in this range of products.

Two-thirds of the harvested sweet corn and nearly 55-60 percent of the green peas are processed by the canning industry

About 200,000 tons of sweet corn and 40,000 tons of canned green peas are processed annually in the canneries. The share of leguminous plants in canning industry products is small, their annual volume purchased for processing is around 15-20 thousand tons. Among the smaller-volume products, canned cucumbers are worth mentioning, of which the canning industry processes about 7-9 thousand tons annually. Cherries are the largest amount of fruit processed by canning enterprises. Depending on the harvest, the industry buys approximately 35,000 to 40,000 tons of raw materials annually.

Among the preservation industry processes, one of the defining technologies that ensures a long shelf life even at room temperature is heat preservation

Depending on the form of packaging, the product is placed in glass or metal packaging, after which heat treatment takes place. Given that the cold chain is not provided for all consumer uses, heat preservation still has a right to exist in the processing industry. Depending on the degree of heat treatment, the quality preservation period of the products can be extended up to 5 years, however, in the course of the transition to a sustainable economy – in consultation with trade expectations – in the future, new technological solutions may spread in the manufacturing industry.

A significant part of domestic canning products is exported

According to data from the Agricultural Economics Institute (AKI), 90 percent of domestically produced frozen and canned sweet corn is sold on export markets. Our most important partner is still Germany, but a significant amount of canned sweet corn is also delivered to Poland, France and Italy. The export volume of canned green peas and cherry preserves is over 80 percent. Among the examined products, frozen green peas and frozen cherries have the lowest export volume, 50-60 percent of the canned goods produced in our country end up on foreign markets.

NAK