IDENTIFICATION OF FACTORS INFLUENCING THE SUPPLY CHAIN OF CEREALS FROM FARMER TO FINAŁ PROCESSING

Agata KOBYŁT

Abstract

The production of cereals is an important element of agricultural production in Poland. A large area of arabie land is occupied by cereal production, while Poland produces a significant part of total European production. The agricultural market is a peculiar market from the point of view of logistics management, as it faces supply shocks, mainly due to weather conditions, while technological change not only increases supply in the longer-term, but also influences ąuality. Table 1 presents the production of different types of cereal in Poland in 2003. Although wheat accounts for one third of total production, the production structure is quite differentiated. When analysing the share of output according to province (Table
2), it turns out that Dolnośląskie (Lower Silesia) is the largest wheat producer with morę than 13% of total production. Almost all of the wheat (97%) is produced by the private sector [www.stat.gov.pl, 2005].
Within the private sector, 80% is produced by private farms while 20% is produced by agricultural companies [www.gov.stat.pl, 2005]. This implies that a large number of producers operate on the agricultural market, which negativeły influences the flow of agricultural products in the supply chain and significantly increases transaction costs. In this paper, first the basie characteristics of the cereal market in Poland are described. Then a simple model of the production chain is presented. Finally, different aspects of intervention purchasing (government procurement) are discussed.