V01.5i!996):219-220. Horticultural economics research needs more resources Finnish horticulture faced major changes in 1995 due to Finland’s joining the European Union (EU) on January 1, 1995. The change in market conditions was rapid. The withdrawal of the bor- der protection meant that foreign products came for sale permanently throughout the year. Con- sequently, the prices went down. Compared with the 1992-1993 average, the producer prices of vegetables in greenhouses fell by 35% and the prices of flowers and plants by 21%. The pro- ducer prices of open-field vegetables fell by 25%, the prices of apples by 30% and the prices of berries by 15%. Flowever, the variation in the price development within groups was substan- tial. Although the producer prices fell sharply in 1995, there was only a slight fall in the produc- tion costs. The horticultural cultivation is very intensive with respect to the use of land and la- bour. Labour plays a central role in the costs. The slight fall in the input prices, that was re- corded in 1995, was fully offset by the 8% in- crease in the labour costs from 1993 to 1995. The fall in the producer prices and the unchanged production costs weakened the financial situation of the Finnish horticultural producers. In order to support the adjustment to the EU membership, the Finnish horticultural produ- cers are paid a national support during the trans- itional period, 1995-1999. The support, that is reduced gradually, will partly compensate the income losses caused by the fallen producer prices. A long-term support was accepted by the EU for the Northern Finland. As a consequence of the increased support, the EU membership increased the public con- trol in the Finnish horticulture. The lack of data is obvious, when it comes to data about the eco- nomic situation of the horticultural enterprises. This is the case especially for the open-field production. There are a number of reasons for the situation: the horticultural enterprises have traditionally dealt with production and market- ing on their own. Matters concerning economy have been classified by the farmers as private. Furthermore, the lack of support systems before joining the EU has decreased the need for na- tion-wide economic monitoring in horticulture. The lack of data has many shapes. In the of- ficial statistics, horticultural enterprises are grouped in no more than one or two categories despite the fact that the enterprises differ con- siderably from each other. This makes the inter- pretation of the statistics difficult, and it also makes the data about horticultural enterprises less useful. The horticultural economics suffers from the fact that the education and the research are underdeveloped. Moreover, the advisory © Agricultural and Food Science in Finland Manuscript received June 1996 219 AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD SCIENCE IN FINLAND 2 Laurila, 1.P.: Horticultural economics research needs more resources (News and Reports) service in horticultural economics, especially concerning the production in open field, is in- sufficient. The increased competition and the pressures on profitability within the markets of horticul- tural products emphasises the need for economic research in horticulture. Simultaneously, the need for advisory services and data availability is increasing. The implementation of a horticul- tural policy requires data about the economic situation of the horticultural enterprises and the factors that affect their profitability. Fortunately, there has been some progress in this field. In 1996, the horticultural farm accountancy system will be put into practice. The system will at last make it possible to collect information about the incomes of the growers. In addition to the farm accountancy system, the public control requires up-date information on the prices of horticultural products. This in- formation is available through Kasvistieto, an organisation owned by the producers. The informa- tion is forwarded to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and the European Commission, that uses it as a base for decisions concerning the entry price system. This article is based on the seminar “Current topics in horticultural economics” organised by the Scientific Agricultural Society ofFinland and held at the University of Helsinki, on February 15, 1996. The seminar was chaired by Taina Ve- santo from the Ministry of Agriculture and For- estry. The speakers were Seppo Aaltonen from the Pellervo Economic Research Institute, Sirpa Lehtimäki and Katarina Lassheikki from the Central Organisation for Finnish Horticulture and Petri Knaapinen from the Agricultural Eco- nomics Research Institute. Ilkka P. Laurila Agricultural Economics Research Institute, P.O. Box 3, FIN-00411 Helsinki, Finland SELOSTUS Puutarhaekonominen tutkimus tarvitsee lisää resursseja EU-jäsenyys heikensi Suomen puutarhatalouden kan- nattavuutta. Jäsenyyden myötä puutarhatuotantoa suojanneet tuontirajoitteet poistettiin, minkä seurauk- sena hintataso laski. Vuosiin 1992 ja 1993 nähden vihannesten ja omenan tuottajahinnat vuonna 1995 olivat 25-35 % alhaisemmat. Kukkien, taimien ja marjojen hinnat laskivat hieman vähemmän. Tuotan- tokustannukset eivät vastaavasti laskeneet, sillä työ- kustannusten nousu kompensoi ostopanosten lievää laskua. Tulonmenetystä vaimennetaan siirtymäkauden tuella, jota maksetaan kansallisista varoista vuoteen 1999 saakka ja pohjoista tukea vielä sen jälkeenkin. EU-jäsenyyden myötä puutarhatalous kytkettiin aiempaa tiiviimmin osaksi maatalouden sektorihallin- toa. Samalla kävi ilmeiseksi, että puutarhatalouden kannattavuusseurannan tilastoinnissa on puutteita. Tilastojen käyttökelpoisuutta heikentää mm. se, että puutarhatalouden yritysrakenne on hyvin monimuo- toinen, mutta virallisissa tilastoissa puutarhayrityk- set käsitellään vain yhtenä tai kahtena ryhmänä. Tältä osin tilanne paranee vuoden 1996 aikana, kun Suo- messa aloitetaan puutarhatalouden kannattavuuskir- janpito. Puutarhatalous kärsii myös puutarhaekono- mian heikosta resursoinnista oppiaineena ja alan tut- kimuksen vähäisyydestä. Kirjoitus perustuu Suomen Maataloustieteellisen Seuran järjestämään “Puutarhaekonomian ajankohtai- sia kysymyksiä” -seminaariin, joka pidettiin 15. hel- mikuuta 1996 Helsingin yliopiston tiloissa Viikissä. Ilkka P. Laurila Maatalouden taloudellinen tutkimuslaitos 220 AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD SCIENCE IN FINLAND