Agriculture and food sector in Finland 2018

Foreword: Finland celebrated one hundred years of independence, Donald Trump rose to power in the US, and Robert Mugabe’s 37-year rule in Zimbabwe came to an end – 2017 will be remembered for this. In the Finnish agriculture and food sector, 2017 will be remembered for exceptionally poor harvesting conditions. In certain parts of the country, the grain harvest was damaged by exceptional periods of rain and cold weather. At 3.4 billion kilos, the total cereal yield was the second smallest in the 2000s. The annual review of agriculture and the food industry in Finland, prepared, again, by the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), presents a current outlook for the sectors covered and the most recent research data in a single volume. It provides comprehensive information on the operating environment in agriculture and the food sector, the development of the agricultural and food markets, agricultural policy, the structural development and economic situation in agriculture, and the interaction between agriculture and the environment. The special themes of this review discuss the opportunities generated by digitalisation for the development of the Finnish food chain, and the identification of the competitive edge of Finnish food both in the domestic market and in exports. Other topics include the future growth prospects of the horticultural production, and the interest among businesses and consumers in the cultivation of insects and insect food. The article on eutrophying phosphorus loading analyses the difficult choices that are made in agricultural water protection. We hope our readers in and outside Finland will find this report useful. Report drawn up by: Jansik Csaba: chapters 1.3, 1.4; Karhula Timo: chapters 2.2, 2.4, 3; Knuuttila Marja: chapters 1.1, 1.2; Koikkalainen Kauko: chapter 5; Koivisto Anu: chapter 2.3; Latukka Arto: chapter 4.3; Miettinen Antti: chapter 5; Mäkinen Heikki: chapter 4.2; Niemi Jarkko: chapter 2.4; Niemi Jyrki: chapters 2.1, 3, editor; Väre Minna: chapter 4.1, editor201