Main points
- Spring frosts in Ukraine have threatened the stone fruit harvest, but final forecasts about the state of the harvest will only be possible in the second half of May.
- Fruit prices will rise due to increased costs of material and energy resources, not just due to crop losses from frost.
Will there be peaches and apricots / Photo Pixabay
Spring temperature swings have put Ukraine's stone fruit harvest at risk. Experts are assessing the risks of losses, but it is too early to make final predictions.
Should we expect a massive crop failure of apricots and peaches this year?
Olena Kishchak, a scientist at the Institute of Horticulture of the NAAS, told Channel 24 in a commentary that the group of stone fruit crops that are massively grown in Ukraine includes plum, cherry, sweet cherry, apricot, peach, cherry plum and dogwood, which are grown mainly on homestead plots. Among them, dogwood and apricot trees are distinguished by their earliest flowering.
Olena Kishchak
Head of the Breeding and Technological Department of the Institute of Horticulture of the NAAS, Doctor of Agricultural Sciences
This year, in March, abnormally high air temperatures of up to +16+18 degrees were observed for a rather long period, which provoked early flowering in early April of apricot trees, not only of early but also of late varieties. During this period, early varieties of peach and sweet cherry, partly of cherries and plums also bloomed en masse. After that, there were two long waves of temperature drops to 0-2 degrees, and in some regions to minus 4 degrees at night, which undoubtedly could not but negatively affect the mass shedding of flowers and deterioration of fruit setting, since the critical temperature for buds is -3.5-4, for flowers -2-2.5, and for the ovary -1-1.5 degrees.
However, according to her, it is premature to draw final conclusions about crop losses at this time, because under such difficult conditions, even on some adapted apricot varieties, scientists note the formation of ovaries, which will still undergo a physiological wave of falling off, so only in the second half of May can an objective forecast of the yield of stone crops be obtained.
Please note! It is certain that early varieties of these crops, which bloomed en masse during the two waves of prolonged cold snap mentioned above, are at risk of partial loss of their biological productivity potential.
How much will these fruits cost this year?
According to Olena Kishchak, a significant increase in prices for material and fuel and energy resources will be the main components of this year's prices for all types of agricultural products, including fruits and berries. Therefore, it would not be entirely correct to say that they are becoming significantly more expensive only because of the loss of part of the harvest from spring frosts.
This year, the price of fruits and berries will be such that, in the conditions of the expected increase in tariffs for gas, electricity, hot and cold water supply, housing and communal services, etc., the average consumer will be able to pay,
– says the scientist.
Important! Olena Kishchak notes that fruit and berry products spoil quickly, so even taking into account all the above negative factors, market prices for them will be at the level of the real purchasing power of mass consumers.
Imports have collapsed the market: strawberries are getting cheaper even before the start of the season
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Imported strawberries from Greece caused prices on the Ukrainian strawberry market to drop to 200 hryvnias per kilogram at retail.
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Ukrainian greenhouse producers are expected to begin active deliveries in May, while the mass arrival of open-ground strawberries is forecast for mid-June.
Most Ukrainian producers are just preparing to enter the market with greenhouse products – active deliveries are expected to begin in May. However, cultivation volumes remain limited, and accurate statistics on berries are lacking.