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

According to the Hungarian Chamber of Agriculture (NAK), the quality of vegetables for processing was also affected by the weather, with the drought leading to more defective products, which reduces the processing rate and the quantity of finished products. Current data suggest that this season produced an average yield in sweetcorn (14 tonnes/ha) and a poorer one for green peas (4.2 tonnes/ha). The proportion of irrigated areas is still small, which in this and previous drought years had a negative impact on production figures and economic results. The area used for growing vegetables in arable land has been on a downward trend in recent years, amounting to 74,000ha at national level. About 50% of the total area is used for sweetcorn and 25% for green peas. A significant part of the domestic canned products is exported. According to the Institute of Agricultural Economics (AKI), 90 % of the frozen and canned sweetcorn produced in the country is sold in export markets, and the export share of canned green peas is also above 80%. //