Ekologiškos gyvulininkystės produkcijos rinkos plėtros galimybės Lietuvoje

Abstract

Interviewing of the guests of Druskininkai took place on January 13 – February 4, 2007. Depending on the results of the interview, we can state that one of the key conditions for the development of ecological farming in the country is ecological consciousness of the consumers, as the production and consumption of ecological products establishes preconditions to improve the quality of life. Ecological product demand is increasing, but not enough to forecast the market development. One of the reasons to low increase of the ecological product market is still unformed trading structures of these products. 57 % of the respondents buy ecological products in the supermarkets, 30 % - in the markets, only 4 % - directly from the ecological farms, and 8 % - during the expositions. Realization of ecological products in the supermarkets should speed up the growth of the market of these products. Main problems in selling the ecological products in big supermarkets would be rather high markup as well as the lack of an express ecological product marking. 43 % of the respondents identify ecological products by a special ecological product category (section), i.e. they do not spare time in search of an ecological product. Ecological product demand is increasing; however, the trading infrastructure has not been formed yet. The most popular ecological product trading form is still not clear. Another, the primary, reason to low ecological product demand is low income. Residents and guests of the resort prefer the lower level needs to healthy nutrition. In such situation, one of the principal factors for the development of ecologization is the activities of education and scholastic institutions as well as means of mass communication. Another substantial reason, which the popularity of an ecological product is subject to, is the support, given by the state. As a result, the price difference between an ecological and traditional foodstuff would become smaller. 65 out of 126 respondents could pay 5 %, 20-10 %, 15-15 % more for an ecological product. Support of the government to the ecological production is an essential factor for the market growth, as the direct payouts compensate the part of major expenses of this production. However, the direct payouts, granted to the producers, do not guarantee the growth of the market of ecological products, if the production structure is not adjusted to the demand. With reference to the interviews, it was observed that there is a lack of information on the benefits of use of ecological products, that proper infrastructure has not yet been developed, as well as that marketing means have not yet been implemented.