According to preliminary data for 2012, the value of Estonia's agricultural production increased by nearly a tenth, amounting to 885.8 million euros, it appears from the annual overview of the agricultural sector presented at the Ministry of Agriculture on Monday.
In the output of the sector the share of crop farming increased and that of animal farming decreased, with production value growing 16 percent in crop farming and 5 percent in animal farming, the ministry said.
Subsidies related to crop and animal farming production made up 3.9 million euros or less than half a percentage point of the total production value.
"There are challenges enough facing both producers and processors, because it is necessary to raise the efficiency of production and give more value added to the output," Minister of Agriculture Helir-Valdor Seeder said. "Value has to be added to Estonia's agricultural production to the maximum possible extent in Estonia and then export markets have to be found for the ready-to-use products."
In crop farming the value of cereal production increased the most last year, by 37 percent, which was primarily due to the producer price rise.
The biggest decline, 17 percent, was recorded in the value of potato production, but potato output and producer price also decreased, the former by 10 percent and the latter, by 8 percent.
In animal farming production value grew the most in cattle and in sheep and goat farming, respectively by 43 percent and 32 percent.
Milk accounts for more than half of the total production of animal farming. The volume of production increased last year but owing to a drop in producer prices the overall production value declined by 2 percent.
Gross value added of the agricultural sector was nearly 346 million euros, up by 11 percent in annual comparison. Export of agricultural products continued growing last year, increasing by 14 percent year-on-year.