Agronomists of horticultural enterprises in the southern regions of Moldova note that frosts in the first decade of April caused damage to flowering plantations of almonds, apricots and some European varieties of cherries (Kodiya, etc.), sensitive to sudden changes in weather and demanding on agricultural technology.

For a number of reasons, most growers did not insure stone fruit orchards against spring frosts this year, therefore, the level of damage was not officially certified with government officials and insurance companies. Growers themselves believe that at least 20-30% of the harvest of the mentioned fruit crops will be lost due to the frosts.

Meanwhile, stone fruits (peaches, nectarines, cherries and plums) in the central and northern regions of the country have not yet bloomed, only upswelling and opening of the buds is noted. Frosts have not yet damaged orchards in these regions.

According to the weather forecast, cool weather will last until the end of the week. Along with this, rains started after a long dry period in Moldova. Experts from the Association of Agricultural Producers of Moldova FARM say this will have a twofold effect on the pollination process of orchards. On the one hand, rains combined with relatively low atmospheric temperatures reduce the activity of pollinating insects. On the other hand, humidity increases the “lifespan” of pollen and lengthens the potential period of pollination.

Сообщение The harvest of almonds, apricots and some cherry varieties in the south of Moldova will decrease due to frosts появились сначала на EastFruit.

About two weeks ago, EastFruit wrote about unprecedented in intensity and duration rains in the first half of March 2022 in Uzbekistan, which were replaced by an anomalous cooling in the second half of March. Moreover, two waves of frosts were observed during this period, that covered mainly the central strip of the country.

One of the consequences of the March weather anomalies for melon growers was the later than usual planting of seedlings of early watermelon varieties in the southern regions of the country. The incessant rains and the subsequent cold snap this month delayed the start of works by about 10-12 days, farmers of the Kashkadarya region of Uzbekistan noted in an interview with Khalq suzi (People’s Word). Thus, the beginning of the watermelon harvesting season in 2022 is expected in the first ten days of June – 12-15 days later than last year.

Growers of the Kukdala district of the Kashkadarya region are among the first in Uzbekistan to bring wholesale volumes of watermelon to the market. To do this, back in January, they begin to grow seedlings of early varieties of watermelon in pots, and at the end of the first or beginning of the second decade of March, they plant these seedlings on the ground under film tunnels.

According to the melon grower Gayum Tolipov from the village of Utamayli (Kukdala district), this year watermelon seedlings were planted in the fields under the film on March 22 – 10 days later than last year. Accordingly, the harvesting is also postponed for 12-15 days. Apparently, the harvest season this year will start in the first decade of June, while last year watermelons were harvested in the third decade of May there. This season, he planted 6 000 seedlings of early-ripening watermelon per 1 ha and plans to get a crop of about 30 tonnes.

According to Khalq suzi, 1 004 households live in the village of Utamayli, and the vast majority of them are engaged in the cultivation of watermelon, mainly early varieties. The total area of ​​watermelon plantations in this village is about 2 000 ha.

Сообщение The season of early watermelons in Uzbekistan will start later due to weather anomalies появились сначала на EastFruit.

In an interview with EastFruit, the director of Fruit House Organics and expert in intensive farming, Shukhrat Abrorov, spoke about the influence of weather anomalies on apple harvest in Uzbekistan in 2021. He also shared his remarks on apple varieties that show good results when grown in Uzbekistan.

“Of course, the observed weather anomalies in Uzbekistan – a sharp warming in winter and subsequent frosts in late February and mid-March this year had a serious negative impact on the 2021 apple harvest. However, in terms of the extent of damage, the situation is ambiguous and highly dependent on the regions.

In some orchards the yield was low or there was none due to the periodicity of fruiting.. This should not be confused with the damage from frost, which is why many growers have a misconception. The situation looks completely illogical when there is a normal harvest in neighboring apricot and almond orchards, but not in apple ones,” the expert noted.

According to Shukhrat Aborov, after the ripening of fruits, frosts had the greatest influence on the apple harvest in the Tashkent, Syrdarya, Jizzakh and Samarkand regions. At the same time, a different picture is observed in districts of the same region:

in the Tashkent region – in the Kibray, Yukorichirchik and Parkent districts, frosts caused great damage to the apple harvest, while in the Urtachirchik and Yangiyul districts, the damage was insignificant;

in Jizzakh region – in Bakhmal and Zaamin districts, growers had a good apple harvest this year, which cannot be said about other districts of this region;

in the Samarkand region – we see a good harvest in the apple orchards of the Urgut region, and in the Dzhambay region, frosts caused insignificant damage to the apple harvest.

“According to my estimates, if we consider the average figures, the apple harvest is lower than last year in the above areas. In a number of apple orchards in these regions, the harvest is very small, but in the mountainous and foothill areas we see a good apple harvest,” he added.

Read also: Poor harvest of persimmon in Spain – is it a chance for Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Georgia?

The expert also highlighted the regions where the overall apple harvest was not lower than last year’s level: “The Fruits House Organics team visited and examined a number of large apple orchards in the Khorezm region and the Republic of Karakalpakstan, where the apple harvest is good, at last year’s level. This is due to the fact that weather anomalies almost bypassed these regions; late spring in these regions in 2021 also played a role. In addition, we note a good apple harvest in the Fergana Valley (Namangan, Fergana and Andijan regions),” said Shukhrat Abrorov.

He named apple varieties that show good results when grown in Uzbek climate: early varieties – “Sukh gazali”, mid-season and late varieties – Gala, Golden, Jeromine, Pink Lady, as well as For Lady.

EastFruit experts want to emphasize that Pink Lady is not a variety, but a trademark of the club apple variety Crisp Pink. All brand and variety rights are owned by the Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia (DAFWA). The cultivation and sale of this apple variety, as well as the use of the Pink Lady brand without a license, is strictly prohibited. The copyright owner strictly controls the apple’s offer and invests in their advertising. Therefore, Uzbek growers should pay attention to this important aspect of growing the variety “Crisp Pink”.

According to the expert, For Lady apples have excellent characteristics for cultivation in Uzbekistan – a beautiful presentation, resistance to hot climate, they are juicy and crunchy, and acquire color even in the southern regions of the country with a hot climate.

This year, apple prices are on average higher than last year, especially for early varieties. For example, at the end of June – the beginning of the harvesting season, apples of the “Sukh gazali” variety were shipped from the fields by growers at 15,000 UZS/kg ($1.42). Prices gradually decreased and by the end of the harvesting season they fell to 7,000-8,000 UZS/kg ($0.65-0.75).

As for the Gala, Golden, Jeromine and Pink Lady varieties, shipping prices from orchards are about 20-30% higher this year than last year, depending on the quality and size of apples.

Fruits House Organics has created a Telegram channel with tips and tricks for growers on apple and other fruit production in intensive orchards.

Сообщение How did the weather anomalies affect apple harvest in Uzbekistan? появились сначала на EastFruit.

In Poland, Chinese cabbage continues to rise in price rapidly, analysts of the EastFruit project report. The main factor for the new rise in prices in this segment was the limited supply of Chinese cabbage on the market. Chinese cabbage was affected by fungal diseases due to unfavorable weather conditions during the ripening period, and the plantations were also significantly affected by hail.

At the moment, wholesale prices for Chinese cabbage on the Polish market are $ 0.46-0.62/kg, which is on average 20% more expensive than at the end of the last working week.

Another factor in the growth of prices was the beginning of the off-season period: medium varieties of Chinese cabbage are gradually leaving the market, and harvesting of late ones is planned to start in early September. However, according to the growers, it is not worth hoping for a decrease in prices at the beginning of autumn. A slight decline is possible only at the beginning of the harvesting, after which the price will only rise. Today market participants are already concerned about the prospects of the Chinese cabbage harvest. Due to unfavorable weather conditions in the current season, its gross yield will be much lower than last year.

It should be noted that Chinese cabbage in Poland is already on average 33% more expensive today than in the same period last year. At the same time, most growers are planning to increase prices again next week.

Сообщение Chinese cabbage prices continue to rise in Poland появились сначала на EastFruit.

According to weather forecasts, it will get colder in Moldova this week, precipitation may intensify. According to the heads of horticultural enterprises, worsening weather conditions will obviously affect the start of the main cherry season. It was supposed to start on the first days of June, but under current conditions, it will be postponed for at least a week.

The first cherries became available in the country almost two weeks ago, but, as the operators of the fruit and vegetable market note, “in small quantities and at huge prices.” EastFruit reported that first cherries in retail were offered at the price of “three to four kilograms of meat” – up to 300 MDL/kg ($ 16.9/kg) and more. A few wholesale suppliers who risked importing Greek cherries to the domestic market offered them to retailers at 100-130 MDL/kg ($ 5.62-7.30/kg).

At the end of May, early local cherries almost replaced imported ones. However, their offer is limited. At the same time, despite the noticeably increased quality, the retail price fell to 120-150 MDL/kg ($ 6.74-8.42/kg) over less than two weeks. However, the wholesale price has not yet been formed. The majority of Moldovan cherry sellers now are small producers who sell fruits from trays and car trunks or in their own stores in the suburbs.

Focusing on the dynamics of sales and prices in the previous several years, experts of the Moldovan fruit growers’ associations believe that despite the difficult weather conditions prices for cherries will decrease quite sharply in the beginning of June – “faster than those for strawberries at the beginning of the sales season”. They justify this by the fact that cherries are in less demand than strawberry in the domestic market of Moldova and at the same time, “the price level for cherries, which is acceptable for mass Moldovan consumers is significantly lower than for strawberries.” It is estimated at about the same level as in mid-May last year – 40-60 MDL/kg ($ 2.25-3.37/kg). However, according to the heads of horticultural enterprises, it is unlikely that prices in Moldovan retail will drop to such a level by the end of the first week of June.

Сообщение The start of the main season for cherries in Moldova is delayed by another seven to ten days появились сначала на EastFruit.

According to EastFruit, the high yield of strawberries , expected by the analysts in Ukraine in 2021, may again be below preliminary forecasts. The main reason is prolonged number of days with rains in almost the entire territory of Ukraine Moreover, the weather forecast for the coming days does not look good.

Excessive moisture leads to numerous diseases of strawberry crops. At the same time, it also impacts the crop protection and the treatments which become less effective.

Farmers in many regions of Ukraine are in distress. For some, matured strawberries literally stand in the water, and they cannot be collected. In the cases where the harvest is possible the quality and shelf-life parameters tend to be very low and the strawberries are not arriving to the fresh market but are sold for processing at a much lower.

Note also that cloudy weather further delays the ripening of strawberries and negatively affects its taste and BRIX level. The beginning of the season this year was already delayed by an average of 10 days. At the same time, prices for strawberries are already lower than a year earlier . However, the situation may well change.

At the moment, the mass ripening of berries in the open field has begun only in the southern regions of Ukraine, and the main offer comes from the Kherson region. There, weekend prices for small wholesale batches of a low-quality strawberries dropped to UAH 30 / kg ($ 1.1 per kg), and for high-quality are around UAH 50 / kg ($ 1.8). However, the weather is still rainy in the region. In addition, a significant drop in air temperature is predicted, which may stabilize and possibly even increase prices for  strawberries.

Read also: Strawberries in Ukraine and Russia are cheaper than last year

The harvest of strawberries in the central and northern regions of Ukraine is still under question mark. In these regions the area cultivated with strawberries increased in the recent years. the weather forecast scares producers who already have problems with strawberry diseases. In the coming days, a colder wave and an increase in precipitation in these regions are expected, which may nullify all their efforts by damaging the entire crop in terms of quality and quantity.

By the way, the negative impact of weather conditions on the yield and quality of strawberries is now forcing Polish gardeners to produce strawberries in film tunnels. Perhaps this could be a good strategy for Ukrainian producers as well.

Rainy weather will negatively affect not only strawberries, but also other berry crops. Already, the prospects for the yield of blueberries and honeysuckle in Ukraine in 2021 cause some concern.

Сообщение Will the strawberry price in Ukraine rise again due to rainy weather? появились сначала на EastFruit.

According to the heads of large horticultural enterprises, the biological phenomenon of spring-summer falling of fruits showed that the 2021 harvest of many varieties of cherries may be approximately at the level of the “bad last year”. According to expert estimates, the harvest of cherries in the country amounted to only about 11 thousand tons in 2020. It was almost twice as high in the best years of the five-year period: in 2019 – 20 thousand tons, in 2018 and 2015 – 19 thousand tons each.

Fears of producers regarding the future cherry harvest appeared during the pollination period when there were unfavorable weather conditions everywhere in Moldova: either too cool, rainy, or windy. However, farmers counted on at least a high yield for self-pollinated cherry varieties (their share in the structure of cherry orchards is around a third).

Read also: Exports to the EU will keep prices for cherries in Moldova high despite higher production

As early cherries will soon be available on the Moldovan market – according to farmers, it will happen at the end of the first week of June – the situation is less likely to improve. Orchards of self-pollinated and late varieties of cherries suffer because of daily rains. In the opinion of producers, even anti-rain films do not provide enough protection. The air humidity is still high, but there is not enough sunlight and heat.

This is reflected in the mood of agricultural producers. The prevailing opinion is that both the quantity and quality of cherries harvest will decline sharply. Farmers who are hoping to get a medium to high quality produce claim that they will try to sell it to the EU market at the beginning of the season.

Сообщение A low cherry harvest in Moldova for a second year in a row появились сначала на EastFruit.

Representatives of Moldovan agricultural producers’ organizations highlight several factors that can significantly affect the prices of cherries on the domestic market in early summer 2021. However, not all of them share the opinion that prices for local cherries at the beginning of the marketing season will be significantly lower than last year that was noted for a low production.

According to the EastFruit wholesale price monitoring, at the end of May/begging of June 2020, the level of average wholesale prices for cherries, depending on their size, fluctuated within 30-40 MDL/kg ($ 1.70-2.27/kg), and a year earlier – 14-30 MDL/kg ($ 0.77-1.66/kg). Experts of fruit producers’ associations explain the difference in price levels by a significant exchange rate difference, and lower production in 2020. Last year, due to spring frosts, it was already clear at the beginning of the season that there would be big losses, and this was confirmed later. According to estimates, the harvest of cherries in Moldova reached 11 thousand tons in 2020, almost half of about 20 thousand tons in 2019.

This year, the weather conditions are still favorable for cherry producers and cherries have so far suffered from frost and hail less than in 2020. Nevertheless, fruit growers associations note that in Moldova, only a few agricultural enterprises have cherry orchards equipped with anti-hail nets and anti-rain films. Meanwhile, in the last decade of May 2021, precipitation is regular almost everywhere in the country. There are already cases of the spread of diseases in stone fruit orchards. In this regard, the quality of the cherry harvest and its prices are an open question.

It is also worth considering that the sector of early stone fruit production in Moldova is much more export-oriented than the sector of early berries (strawberry). Horticultural farms, even if there are only a few hectares of intensive or semi-intensive cherry orchards, according to the heads of fruit growers’ associations, “will obviously prefer to sell their products to exporters than to search options within the country.” From this point of view, the export of early cherries will be intensive, even if exporters will pay in bulk no more than 30-35 MDL/kg, while wholesale prices for the domestic market will not be less than 40 MD/kg.

Since prices for sweet cherries in the EU remain high this year due to huge crop losses caused by weather, export opportunities for Moldova are going to be better than usual. EastFruit analysts earlier pointed out the opportunities for Moldova and Ukraine to export cherries to Italy but other EU countries will have good demand for this fruit during the season as well.

Сообщение Exports to the EU will keep prices for cherries in Moldova high despite higher production появились сначала на EastFruit.

The price of greenhouse cucumbers continues to increase rapidly In Ukraine and Russia, EastFruit reports. Today wholesale batches of cucumbers from local greenhouse in Ukraine are sold at $ 1.84/kg average, while at the end of last week the average price did not exceed $ 1.50/kg.

According to the analysts of the project, the main reason for the rapid rise in cucumber prices in Ukraine are the weather conditions, namely the rather cold first half of spring with low air temperatures, frequent rains and recent snowfall. Yesterday and the day before it was snowing in Cherkassy, ​​Poltava, Kharkov, Vinnitsa and other regions, and night temperatures over the past week often dropped below 0⁰С.

According to producers, the weather had a negative impact on the growing season, and only small volumes of the new harvest products appeared on the market. At the same time, sellers could easily raise prices despite the restrained demand from buyers.

The developments on the greenhouse cucumber market in Ukraine were different in the previous season. The first half of spring 2020 was warmer than this year, but weather conditions worsened in mid-April. The abnormally cold May, with frequent frosts until the onset of summer, led to a shift in the standard terms of cucumber sales by 10-14 days. The supply of cucumbers significantly exceeded the demand before the May holidays, prices were less than $ 1.00/kg and dropped to $ 0.40/kg by the beginning of May.

At the same time, representatives of greenhouses in the Russian Federation also note that the current season has shifted in the production of greenhouse vegetables, in particular cucumbers. Moreover, the weather conditions in March-April were even more unfavorable in Russia than in neighboring Ukraine. Since the first days of March 2021, prices for cucumbers have been gradually increasing, and last Friday they reached $ 1.73/kg. By the middle of this week, wholesale prices for greenhouse cucumbers in Russia exceeded $ 2.50/kg, and the situation is not likely to change in the coming days.

As EastFruit experts forecast, wholesale prices for greenhouse cucumbers in the Russian Federation may well increase further, since weather in the main production regions remains unfavorable. As for Ukraine, the market situation may change dramatically in the coming days, since weather conditions have normalized in the middle of this week, and the temperature has increased significantly. Thus, the supply of greenhouse cucumbers on the market can grow rapidly by the next weekend, and it can be assumed that the peak of wholesale prices for cucumbers in Ukraine has already passed.

Сообщение Unusually high prices for greenhouse cucumbers in Ukraine and Russia. Can it get even higher? появились сначала на EastFruit.

Last week, EastFruit analysts drew attention to the impending cold cyclone coming to Central Asia as a serious threat for the future fruit harvests. The abnormally warm weather established in the region from the end of January and the beginning of February for this time of the year led to nature awakening too early and, as a consequence, the blooming of stone fruit trees. In the southern and central parts of Uzbekistan, spring came a few weeks ago. There, almonds, apricots, and cherries blossomed in all their glory and, in the north, the buds are just ripe and ready to bloom.

The current flowering pattern and the predicted sharp cooling to -9 at night and to -5 degrees Celsius in the daytime resemble two waves advancing against each other. The resulting collision of which, with a high degree of probability, will result in the loss of a part of the future fruit harvests.

EastFruit interviewed growers, farmers, and specialists from the Fergana Valley, Bukhara, Samarkand, and Surkhandarya regions of Uzbekistan on how they assess risks of losing future stone fruit crops. It should be noted that the first three regions provide almost 70% of the fruits and berries produced in the republic.

Below are several viewpoints reflecting the most common vision by region:

Nizom Akbarov, a farmer from Kuvasay in the Fergana region, mainly fears large losses in the apricot crops:

“Kuvasay specializes in farming. Without exaggeration, I can say that all kinds of fruits that are in Uzbekistan are grown here. My orchard is mainly represented by three types of fruits: cherries, peaches, and apples. In our area, no trees have blossomed, but the buds are already ripe and just about to bloom.

As for the risks from the cold weather that is coming, I am more concerned about the apricot harvest since these trees are inherently weak. In addition to cold weather, their yield is also affected by the level of precipitation and other factors related to weather conditions. If the weather forecast is correct, we may even lose the [apricot] harvest this year.

Sweet cherries are generally more persistent in this regard, but at subzero temperatures predicted by forecasters, losses cannot be avoided here either. I remember how at the end of March 2013 or 2014 the cold also hit with snow – we lost about 35% of the sweet cherry crop.”

Mahmud Oripov, a specialist in agricultural economics with a PhD and associate professor of Bukhara State University, believes that the loss of stone fruit yield from the coming cold weather can range from 30% to 80%, depending on the variety and type of these fruits:

“The sudden and abnormal weather for this time of year – sharp warming since the beginning of February this year – led to an early awakening of nature from hibernation. As a result, we see the flowering of almonds, certain varieties of apricots (but not all of them), and early varieties of apples, in particular in Bukhara. Also in a state of flowering are sweet cherries, sour cherries, and a type of plum used for prunes called “kora olu” («кора олу» in Russian), or dark cherry, one of the famous gifts of nature in Bukhara specifically.

Harvest losses from the upcoming cold weather can be significant. If we talk specifically about the types of stone fruits, then under the threat of loss:

• 55-60% of the future harvest of almonds;
• 70-80% for apricot varieties that have already blossomed;
• 30-35% for other apricot varieties that have not yet blossomed;
• 35-40% for plums.”

Ilham Dzhuraev, a grower from Payaryk district of Samarkand region:

“Almonds and apricots have already blossomed in our area. Almonds can be considered more resistant to sudden cold snaps than apricots, which are predicted in the coming time. On the harvest of the latter, we can lose 70-80% if such cold weather hits.”

Growers and farmers interviewed from other districts of the Samarkand region located closer to the mountainous areas reported that fruit trees have not yet blossomed.

Gulpari Bozorova, a farmer from the Surkhandarya region, sees the risks from the coming cold weather not only for stone fruit species but also for grapes:

“Apricots, almonds, cherries, and Japanese quinces have already blossomed in our country. Of these, the almonds have bloomed and managed to create fruits. Forecasters predict a sharp cooling with minus temperatures at night. We are already worried about the future harvest.

At-risk are apricots, cherries, apples (early) and quinces. The future grape harvest is also under threat since grape bushes are not buried in Surkhandarya in winter, they winter in the open. Sharp abnormal warming, which began at the end of January this year, led to an untimely awakening of the vineyards. Now, we are worried that we may lose part of the harvest.

In general, crop losses can be around 30%, but the weak link is apricots. The harvest of this stone fruit species can suffer even from strong winds, frequent rains, not to mention freezing temperatures after flowering.”

All growers and farmers interviewed intend to use the old traditional way of protecting their orchards from such sudden changes in temperature during or on the eve of flowering trees: prepare a mixture of manure and hay, place such heaps throughout the orchard and set them on fire. The resulting thick smoke envelops the orchard and thus helps to protect trees from sub-zero temperatures.

The volumes of apricot production in Uzbekistan for 2017-2019 were relatively stable with fluctuations within 10% (+/-). The production of sweet cherries during this period increased by 39.3% and the production of almonds generally increased 5 times. It is difficult to predict how and to what extent the coming cold weather will affect the production volumes and prices of stone fruits in Uzbekistan. However, EastFruit will closely follow the development of events and promptly inform about all changes.

Сообщение Farmers in Uzbekistan estimate crop losses from 30% to 80% for cherries, apricots, grapes, and almonds появились сначала на EastFruit.