Soft Fruit Payment as an Instrument of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy and Changes in Production and Purchase Prices of Raspberries and Strawberries in Poland

The article presents the instruments of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy for the fruit and vegetable market. It provides a detailed analysis of the mechanism of support for soft fruit producers, which was introduced in Poland in 2008. Changes in the area of plantations of raspberries and strawberries, the yield of these fruits and the variability of purchase prices for processing were examined in two periods: 2008-2014 and an equal period before the introduction of this instrument (2001-2007). The index of changes and coefficient of variation were calculated to determine changes in the traits under analysis. The significance of differences in the mean values of the analysed parameters (area, yield, prices) in selected periods was determined by means of the test of significance of differences for dependent samples. Analysis showed that the area of plantations, yield and average purchase prices of raspberries had increased significantly (p < 0.05). There were minimal changes in the plantation area and yield of strawberries. The average purchase prices of strawberries increased, but these changes were not statistically significant. The coefficients of variation in the purchase prices of strawberries and raspberries for processing decreased after the introduction of soft fruit subsidies (2008-2014), in comparison with the period before the introduction of the payments, indicating a stabilisation of prices. However, it is not possible to make a clear association between the introduction of soft fruit subsidies and the stabilisation of purchase prices of strawberries and raspberries for processing.