Analysis of the competitive strategy of Hungarian Mustard seed production

Illés, B. Csaba – Markó, Olga

During the 1980's Hungary was the country where the area under mustard was greatest in Europe. However, during the last decade mustard cropping has radically decreased, and its specific yield has also dropped. The unfavourable process was further intensified by the fact that mustard is more and more considered a secondary plant and therefore grown on worse soils in most farms.

Unfortunately, there are no, or only imperfect, data on the size and number of farms producing mustard seed. According to interviews with companies having entered into production contracts with mustard growers and buying up their produce, the most frequent typical size of mustard cropping farms is 50-80 ha. At present, approximately 250-300 farms produce mustard seed, their number varying depending on sales opportunities. Based on regional data, mustard seed growing may be considered one of the relatively more concentrated branches of crop production.

EU accession being imminent, the evaluation of the competitiveness of the mustard sector is necessary. Therefore, in the course of the interviews questions were asked in this respect. Answers received were analysed using the Porter diamond model, based on which it can be stated that the most important tasks are to improve information supply within the entire product channel, and to establish contacts between operators.

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