Due to prolonged rainfall in the first half of March 2022 and the subsequent cooling in the second half of March in Uzbekistan, fruit growers fear the deterioration of fruit trees, and vegetable growers are worried about the harvest of early potatoes and early vegetables, EastFruit experts report.

March 2022 was abnormally rainy in Uzbekistan – unprecedented in terms of intensity and duration of rains. According to the Center for hydrometeorological services of Uzbekistan, there have been almost 2 monthly rainfall in the capital of Uzbekistan from 5 to 17 March, in mountainous and foothill areas – 2-3 times more rains than usual. During this period, it had been raining almost daily with short breaks.

But the weather surprises in Uzbekistan did not end there, as the rainy weather gave way to a cold snap anomalous for this time of year. On March 16, 2022, the Center for hydrometeorological services of Uzbekistan forecasted a sharp decrease in air temperature on 18-21 March throughout the country. In particular, in Tashkent, Samarkand, Jizzakh and Syrdarya regions, the temperature was expected to drop to 2°C during the day, and to -2°C at night. In Bukhara and Navoi regions – up to -6°C at night. In Karakalpakstan and Khorezm region it was expected that the night temperature would drop to -10°C. In the foothills and mountainous regions of the country, the air temperature at night was expected to drop to -7°C.

According to the State Committee on Statistics, the total share of the above regions in the total fruit and berry production of Uzbekistan in 2021 amounted to about 40%, and in the total vegetable production – a little more than 50%.

Representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture of Uzbekistan noted that a cold snap after prolonged rains could damage, first of all, the harvest of early-flowering stone fruits – almonds and apricots. In addition, it can affect the yield of peaches, plums, cherries, sour cherries, walnuts and late-flowering apples and pears.

Meanwhile, no negative impact of weather surprises on the harvest of fruits and nuts is expected in the northern regions of the country due to later flowering there – 15-20 days later.

At the briefing, a representative of the ministry spoke in detail about agrotechnical measures to protect fruit and nut orchards from upcoming frosts. To support agricultural producers, the Ministry of Agriculture has established operational groups and regional headquarters in each region of Uzbekistan.

Recently, the TV channel “Uzbekistan 24” showed a video about how growers of the Kibray district of the Tashkent region save blossoming fruit trees from frost by “heating” them. Dense smoke and small bonfires allow to raise the temperature by several degrees of heat: bonfires are lit in a checkerboard pattern throughout the orchard and trees are wrapped in smoke, taking into account the direction of the wind, they increase smoke or leave it smoldering.

In addition, these frosts also pose a threat to the harvest of early potatoes and early vegetables. The Ministry of Agriculture of Uzbekistan has issued a series of recommendations to prevent the negative impact of cold and wet spring weather on the early harvest of potatoes and vegetables.

According to the forecast by the Center for hydrometeorological services of Uzbekistan, there will be no intense and prolonged rains in the remaining days of March.

According to climate scientists, global warming leads to an increase in the extremeness of weather events, including an increase in the frequency of abnormally dry or abnormally wet periods. March 2022 in Uzbekistan is a vivid confirmation of this.

Weather anomalies in the winter months and early spring of 2021 became the number one topic that affected all other aspects of the work of vegetable, fruit and nut producers in Uzbekistan, those involved in the trade and processing of fruits and vegetables and, of course, consumers.

Сообщение Spring frosts in Uzbekistan: fruit and vegetable growers are trying to save the future harvest появились сначала на EastFruit.

Experts from the Federation of Agricultural Producers of Moldova FARM believe that Moldovan exporters may receive additional incentives to increase the supply of apricots to the European market in 2022. Moreover, in this case, both positive and negative incentives will be used.

As a positive incentive, one can consider the fact that more and more young apricot orchards of varieties popular in the EU (Kioto, Faralia, Wonder Cot, Magic Cot, Big Red, etc.) enter the period of full fruiting in Moldova. In addition, partial preferences apply to the export of Moldovan apricots to the EU: their supplies are subject to a special fixed duty, but the ad valorem component of the customs duty (20%) is not charged. This creates competitive advantages for Moldovan apricots on the European market, compared to similar products from other countries, in particular, Central Asian. Moreover, given the high probability of further rise in food prices due to the war in Ukraine, experts from farmers’ organizations hope that the EU will agree to provide Moldova with additional duty-free quotas for the export of stone fruit, in particular apricots and, possibly, peaches (fig varieties).

Read also: In which markets can Moldovan berries be sold in 2022?

A negative incentive for expanding the supply of Moldovan apricots is that by July (the month with the largest share of sales of apricots) local traders will have to find an alternative to the Russian and Ukrainian markets. In the previous two or three years, Russia and Ukraine accounted for more than half of all apricot exports from Moldova.

In 2021, Moldovan agricultural producers and traders exported about 5 500 tonnes of apricots worth more than $3 million. The largest volume was sent to Ukraine – 2 100 tonnes, Russia – 1 600 tonnes, Belarus – 725 tonnes, Romania – 397 tonnes, Germany – 167 tonnes, Hungary – 95 tonnes. In total, apricots from Moldova were supplied to 16 countries. The average invoice price for apricots exported to the European Union is $1.23/kg (to Germany – $2.01/kg), to the CIS and post-soviet states – $0.44/kg.

Сообщение Moldova has a chance to increase the exports of apricots to the EU – opinion появились сначала на EastFruit.

This year local plums became available on the Moldovan market in mid-July at a wholesale price of about 11 MDL/kg ($ 0.61/kg), which is 1-2 MDL higher than the average price at the start of the season last year. According to the EastFruit monitoring, the wholesale price for early plums in Moldova increased to an average of 12 MDL/kg ($ 0.66/kg) by the end of July 2021, the maximum was 14 MDL/kg ($ 0.77/kg).

Domestic market participants attribute the rise in prices for early plum varieties to three main factors. Firstly, as EastFruit previously reported, the projected 2021 plum harvest is about 20-30% lower than last year.

The second factor is the declining competition for stone fruits in the domestic market. In particular, there are noticeably fewer high-quality apricots on the domestic market; they are sold in retail at a relatively high price – up to 30 MDL/kg ($ 1.66/kg). Accordingly, the price of high-quality large plums is being pulled up to this level.

Finally, plums started being exported to Russia and Romania. The supply volumes are still small. Moreover, mainly the “Chachakskaya early” variety is exported. It was not demanded by traders-exporters in previous years, but this year it is one of the few varieties of early plum that brought good harvest. The domestic market responded to export demand by raising prices.

Сообщение High prices for plums in Moldova появились сначала на EastFruit.

Given critically low apricot exports and the projected sharp decline in peach exports from Uzbekistan in the 2021 season, EastFruit analysts draw attention to the opportunity to increase the export of another stone fruit, plums, on its main foreign market – Russia. This is due to a two-week delay in harvesting early varieties of plums in Moldova – the largest supplier of plums to the Russian market. In addition, despite the relatively high prices for plums in Uzbekistan compared to the same period in 2020 and 2019, they are quite competitive compared to the prices set by exporters from Turkey, another major player in the Russian plum market.

Russia, being the main traditional export market for Uzbek fruits and vegetables, is one of the world’s largest importers of fresh plums. Over the past few years, it has imported from 75 thousand to 80 thousand tons of fresh plums per year. Moldova is the largest supplier of plums to the Russian market. According to EastFruit experts, over the past few years, 38-48% of the total fresh plum imports to the Russian market were made from Moldova. As a rule, fresh plum exports from Moldova to Russia start in mid-July, when the peak harvest of early varieties begins. This season, harvesting of early varieties of plums in the country will begin in late July – early August, at least two weeks later than last year. Moreover, the harvest of early plums is not expected to be very high.

This allows other major players in the Russian plum market, among which is Uzbekistan, to increase the supply of fresh plums to Russia. According to 2017-2020 data, the share of Uzbekistan in the total import of fresh plums to the Russian market ranged from 15% to 28%. The season for exporting fresh plums from Uzbekistan to Russia starts in May, when harvesting of early varieties of plums begins in the southern regions of Uzbekistan. The most active phase starts in June, when peak harvesting begins in the rest of the country. Due to climate, the season for exporting plums from Uzbekistan to the Russian market starts 1.5-2 months earlier than from Moldova. However, this period is expanding by at least two weeks this season, due to the later start of harvesting early plum varieties in Moldova. However, as in the case of apricots and peaches, the price is more important, or rather its competitive level in the Russian market. Like other stone fruits, Uzbekistan’s plum harvest has also been affected by weather anomalies – a sharp warming in winter and subsequent frosts this year. At the end of March 2021, damage to the plum harvest in the southern part of the country was estimated up to 70%. The harvest is lower than in previous years, evidenced by the current prices for plums in Uzbekistan, which are several times higher compared to the same period in previous years. As of July 8, 2021, the average wholesale prices for plums in the capital markets of the country were at the level of $ 0.75 per kg. Uzbek exporters offer plums at about the same prices on FCA terms.

The good news for Uzbek exporters is that prices for fresh plums offered by exporters from Turkey, the third major player in the Russian plum market, are even higher. As of July 8, Turkish exporters are offering plums at $ 1.1 per kg on FCA terms. The share of supplies from Turkey in the total import of fresh plums to Russia in recent years has ranged from 6% to 18%.

Despite the downward trend, average wholesale prices for fresh plums in Russia remain about 2.5 times higher than in Uzbekistan, at the beginning of July – $ 1.90-2.0 per kg.

Thus, the delayed season, at least by two weeks, of Moldovan exporters to the Russian market and the current competitive prices for Uzbek plums provide a good opportunity for Uzbek exporters to increase exports to Russia.

It is worth noting that export earnings from the export of fresh plums from Uzbekistan are much smaller comparing to those from the export of fresh apricots or peaches. From 2017 to 2020, export revenue for fresh plums ranged from $ 14 million to $ 20 million per year. Nevertheless, given extremely low export volumes of apricot and a projected significant decrease in the volume of peach exports from Uzbekistan, export prospects of plums look much more encouraging.

Сообщение Uzbekistan has the opportunity to increase exports of fresh plums to Russia появились сначала на EastFruit.

Sour cherry harvesting started in Ukraine this week, according to EastFruit project analysts. So far, only small lots are offered for sale. At the same time, project experts note that despite the fact that the sour cherry sales season this year began a week later than usual, prices have already started to decline.

The first small batches of sour cherries at the beginning of the week became available on the market at UAH 30-40/kg ($ 1.10-1.47/kg), but today their selling prices have dropped to UAH 25/kg ($ 0.92/kg). Growers plan to enter the market with higher volumes next week.

Growers explain the decline in selling prices in the sour cherry segment at the very beginning of the current season by a rather low demand. It is notable that today cherries and strawberries can be bought at almost the same prices. Also, processing enterprises do not purchase sour cherries yet, since the price is still high for them.

Market operators believe that the average price for sour cherries this season may be lower than last year, due to a higher harvest. It is worth noting that sour cherries suffered the least from adverse weather conditions among all the stone fruits. At the same time, many growers forecast a decline in prices in this segment as early as next week.

Сообщение Sour cherry prices in Ukraine started to decline at the beginning of the season появились сначала на EastFruit.

Audits of the fruit and vegetable departments of supermarkets by EastFruit have always confirmed the relatively high level of retail prices for bananas in Uzbekistan, caused by extremely low consumption, expensive logistics and high import duties. Therefore, Uzbekistan is a country with ultra-low consumption of bananas. You can read about the banana consumption per capita this article.

It seemed that banana consumption in Uzbekistan couldn’t be lower, but it may decline again in the first half of 2021. And this will happen despite high prices for fruits and vegetables in the country’s market, in particular, apricots and cherries in the first half of the season. The main supplier of bananas to Uzbekistan, Ecuador, reported a three-fold decrease in the supply of bananas to the Uzbek market in January-April. Even an increase in the supply of bananas from Pakistan to Uzbekistan is unlikely to cover the decline in Ecuadorian imports.

What is the reason for the decline in banana imports and can Uzbekistan increase the imports of these fruits in the second half of the season?

One of the main reasons is the global rise in banana prices, which we wrote about here. The second reason is the devaluation of the Uzbek currency. The devaluation of the Uzbek sum added about 5-6% to the price of the banana, which has already risen in price, even without taking into account the decrease in trade volumes, which normally leads to an increase in wholesalers’ markups. The third reason is the discrediting of bananas during the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, when a rumor spread throughout the country that covid-19 was transmitted with bananas exported from China. Despite there being no grain of truth in these rumors, they still influence the choice of some consumers.

As a result, we have a rather negative background which, however, may well change in the second part of the season.

The Uzbek team of EastFruit drew attention to the fact that wholesale prices for bananas in the country fell to last year’s levels in US dollars for the first time in 4.5 months, although bananas in sums are still significantly more expensive. As of June 17, 2021, the average wholesale price of bananas in Tashkent amounted to $ 1.79 per kg (19,000 sums), having decreased over the week – from June 10 to June 17 by 14%. On the same date last year, the average wholesale price was only 7 cents lower: $ 1.72 per kg (17,500 sums). However, the wholesale price for local apricots is almost the same now – 16 thousand sums which means that exotic bananas look quite competitive in price.

Supermarket chains have an important influence on the banana trade in the country, too. Moreover, there are more and more of them in the country. For supermarkets, bananas are a very convenient product, because they can be imported directly all year round and sold cheaper than in the markets due to the large volume. Therefore, despite the low consumption volumes, bananas are the most sold fruit in the supermarkets of Uzbekistan. Accordingly, as the number of supermarket chain stores in the country grows, the consumption of bananas will also grow.

Until the coronavirus 2020, banana consumption in Uzbekistan grew very rapidly. In 2017 the country imported 17.5 thousand tons of bananas and in 2019 the volume of imports increased 2.5 times and reached 42.7 thousand tons. In 2020, the imports of bananas to Uzbekistan decreased to 36.7 thousand tons.

Сообщение Uzbekistan imports fewer bananas, despite expensive apricots – why? появились сначала на EastFruit.

According to EastFruit, this week turned out to be very difficult for farmers of the eastern regions of Poland. At nights, the air temperatures dropped below zero in many regions, and in some orchards reached minus 7 degrees Celsius.

Polish farmers report losses in the orchards of apples, blueberries and strawberries. However, the biggest losses, they said, were suffered by stone fruits: cherries, apricots and plums.

EastFruit experts note that, unlike a year ago, air temperatures were not critically low in the spring of 2021. In most farms, the temperature dropped below zero degrees only at night. Moreover, the main production regions of the country were practically not affected. It is also worth adding that in recent years, many Polish farmers have installed frost protection systems. Therefore, in such orchards there will be no losses at all.

Many growers themselves admit that reports of significant losses are clearly exaggerated. This approach has long been traditional for farmers in the hope of influencing prices. However, the market will still regulate the situation itself. A striking example is the 2020/21 season. Last year, there were also many statements about huge losses, however, at present, apple prices in Poland are one and a half times lower than in the previous season, and apple stocks are still quite high.

Accordingly, the preliminary conclusions are that it is too early to talk about significant losses in the apple harvest in Poland due to frosts in the spring of 2021. As for stone fruit and berry crops, it will be possible to assess the situation more accurately in the second half of May, when there is no longer a threat of frost and it will be possible to estimate the potential harvest visually. For plums, apricots, cherries and sour cherries, it is possible that there will be losses, also because the conditions for full-fledged pollination are currently not the best.

Сообщение Apples, stone fruits and berries in Poland are again affected by the frosts появились сначала на EastFruit.

Many stone fruits orchards are blooming in Moldova in the middle of the third decade of April. However, the relatively low average temperature prevents their intensive pollination. Farmers fear that this factor will significantly affect the productivity of orchards: the potential yield of stone fruits (probably, except for plums, which have just started blooming) may decrease in some areas by 10-15% or more.

Horticultural experts note that for high activity of bees, night temperature should be above + 5-7 degrees, and morning and evening temperature should be above + 10-12 degrees Celsius. It was often much cooler in April 2021, with variable cloud cover. Bees were flying only for several hours and rarely in such conditions. Only bumblebees, which can pollinate even in windy weather at + 5-7 degrees Celsius, worked stably. However, only a few horticultural enterprises in the country have bumblebees for pollination.

Farmers hope that the pollen remains moist during the rainy season, and therefore viable for a longer period. There will be enough time for pollination since the end of the first week of May, when warm weather is expected to settle in the country.

Сообщение Unfavorable conditions for pollination will significantly affect the yield of stone fruit in Moldova появились сначала на EastFruit.

Cherry accounts for about 46% of all world trade in stone fruit in value although the share of cherries in exports quantity is much more modest – only 19%.

The world exports of cherries in monetary terms is growing by $363.27 thousand every year, significantly outstripping other stone fruits trade – peach, plum, apricot. It happens despite the fact that cherries are on average 3-4 times more expensive than the other stone fruits mentioned above!

In fact, cherries trade is getting more and more profits among other stone fruits. What is the phenomenon of cherries? Why is their trade successful globally? What is the reason for the growth in global demand for cherries? Why, despite the growth in the production of cherries in the world, global prices for cherries are growing faster than for other stone fruits?

The economist of the Investment Centre of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Andriy Yarmak gave answers to these and other questions during a virtual training on the effective organization of promotion and packaging of fruit and vegetable products for exports. The event was organized by the USAID Competitiveness, Trade and Jobs Activity (CTJ) Project.

“First of all, cherry trade is getting more and more importance among the other stone fruits. The second important factor in the growing popularity of cherries is their cultivation in Southern Hemisphere countries, from where they can be exported during the New Year holidays. The population of the Northern Hemisphere, a region with cold winter, is ready to buy expensive fruits. The third factor is that cherries have a taste that the absolute majority of consumers enjoy, unlike, for instance, plums or peaches or even apricots. I have not met a single person who does not like the taste of cherries,” Andriy Yarmak explained.

He also noted other important factors in the global success of cherries like the improvement of growing technologies and acceleration of the breeding programs, which allows to increase the size of the fruit. Cherry calibers 30+ and 32+ are now the standard in many regions of the world.

The same factors have a positive effect on the organoleptic properties of cherries and on their quality, which permits to increase the shelf-life of the product.

Another important discovery that contributed to the increase in the popularity of cherries in the world market, according to the expert, was the Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP) technology. It allows to keep cherries fresh for up to 60 days without significant loss of quality. This packaging technology opened up opportunities for the maritime logistics of cherries, which significantly reduced delivery costs compared to air logistics. This, in turn, resulted in reduced price for the end consumer and increased demand. Today, thanks to the MAP technology, cherries can be transported in sea containers to almost anywhere in the world.

“Another feature of the world cherry market, which has ensured its phenomenal success, is the so-called “China’s cherry freedom”. First, cherries have become a symbol of the Chinese New Year, thanks to the promotion efforts by the Chilean Fruit Exporters Association. This is advantageous for Chile as cherries ripen there just in time! Before the start of the Chinese New Year celebrations, Chilean fresh cherries are sold in China in beautiful gift wrapping and in large quantities. At the same time, they have become a symbol of economic prosperity in China – it is considered prestigious to buy cherries in China in winter and it confirms the high social status of the consumer. Thus, cherries in China are a status-symbol, since they are not cheap. At the same time, cherries of large caliber and dark color are preferred on the Chinese market. By the way, China and Hong Kong import $3 billion worth of cherries annually, and the bulk of this import falls on New Year’s holidays,” Andriy Yarmak explained.

He also noted that world prices for cherries are growing faster every year than any other type of stone fruit, despite their being the most expensive product, which indicates a rapid growth in demand! At the same time, prices for fresh apricots, for instance, are declining annually, although world trade in apricots is also growing. Not so fast as in cherries, though.

According to the expert, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have an excellent opportunity to make profit on cherries exports, because they, unlike Turkey and many other countries, already have access to cherry markets. In addition, labor costs are significantly lower there than in Chile or even in Turkey, and the smaller the fruit, the more expensive it is to harvest. Thirdly, the climate in Central Asian countries is almost perfect for growing cherries. Fourth, apart from China, the demand for cherries is growing rapidly in many other Asian countries. Fifthly, Andriy Yarmak believes that the development of air logistics will allow Central Asian countries to successfully exports cherries, including to the EU countries, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, as the air transportation cost is low relative to the high price of cherries.

However, the FAO expert drew attention to the need to intensify the production and refinement of cherries, which is indispensable for successful sales. “Hydrocooling is a prerequisite for exporting cherries from a region which is far from sales markets. If cherries are not cooled, you can watch your money going down the drain. Indeed, cherries are often harvested at a very high temperature in Uzbekistan, so they must be cooled to at least 10 degrees Celsius immediately after harvesting, otherwise they quickly lose moisture and weight. You should also pay attention to the technology of growing cherries in greenhouses, and switch to intensive production technologies in order to obtain high-quality large cherries,” Andriy Yarmak summed up.

Сообщение Global cherry market and Chinese cherry phenomenon появились сначала на EastFruit.

EastFruit experts completed a preliminary assessment of damage to stone fruit (cherries, apricots, peaches, and plums), as well as almonds in Uzbekistan from the second wave of frosts that swept across the country in mid-March. As we expected, damage to stone fruit increased dramatically.

Since Uzbekistan is the second largest exporter of peaches, nectarines and plums and the main exporter of fresh apricots to Russia, a decrease in the yield of these fruit will significantly affect stone fruit prices in Russia. The decrease in the apricot yield will have an even greater impact on the dried fruit market, because dried apricots are the main type of dried fruit exported. Russian importers will need to look for alternatives to Uzbek fresh and dried fruit.

The first wave of frosts at the end of February 2021, after a period of abnormal heat that provoked early blooming, caused serious damage to the early apricot in the central region of Uzbekistan. You can read about the estimated losses after the first wave here. If the partial loss of the early apricot harvest was undesirable but not critical, now it is becoming threatening for many producers, because the second wave led to an increase in losses not only of apricots, but also of other stone fruits, which bloomed by mid-March.

At the moment, Uzbekistan is expected to lose more than half of its apricot and almond harvest. Also, in some regions, the harvest of sweet cherry is almost completely lost, although for other fruit the harvest is still quite good. Losses of peaches and plums may be slightly lower than that of apricots and almonds, but perhaps comparable to those of cherries. Serious problems are expected also on the quality of the harvest since frost during and before flowering, as a rule, leads to fruit defects and prevents full pollination.

It should also be noted that there are still several months of growing season ahead, which can lead to new unpleasant surprises. However, we will present the regions that suffered more and those that suffered less, as well the regions where stone fruits and almonds resisted better to the bad weather wave.

We interviewed more than 30 producers  from different regions of Uzbekistan, that together represent 95% of the total production of fruit and berries in the republic (in accordance with data from the report of the State Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan on statistics on the volume of agricultural, forestry and fishery products for 2020).

In the overall picture of damage to the yield of stone fruit, the Khorezm region and the Republic of Karakalpakstan stand out positively, where the estimated loss of apricot yield is only about 10%. Unlike other areas, these regions did not experience any abnormal warming in February 2021. For example, the average temperature in Urgench (the administrative center of the Khorezm region) was noticeably lower than in the rest of the country, and only once in the entire month the temperature exceeded +15 degrees. In Nukus (administrative center of Karakalpakstan), the average temperature in February was even lower. Such weather conditions ensured the so-called calendar transition to spring and did not allow fruit trees to “wake up too early”, which is not a case in other regions of Uzbekistan. Obviously, producers of Khorezm and Karakalpakstan will be able to make good money on apricot this year, because a lower harvest in the country could lead to a significant increase in average prices for these fruits.

In the overwhelming majority of agricultural producing regions of Uzbekistan (in 9 out of 13), the loss of apricot yield is estimated from 40% to 90% and they make 88% of the total production of fruit and berries. According to a survey of producers, in these regions most of the late apricot varieties retained their harvest, and on the contrary, losses on early varieties and the average ripening period are estimated from 70% to 99%.

According to Azizbek Khamraliev, a farmer from Kuvasay, Fergana region, late apricot varieties, relatively new for Uzbekistan and adapted to local conditions (for example, the Orange Ruby variety) seem more frost-resistant. So far, according to the producer, he has not noticed any damage to the harvest of this variety and other new late type varieties. In his opinion, the establishment of apricot orchards by distributing its area among varieties from early to late can ensure a regular harvest from May to September, which is a global trend (see the presentation of Andriy Yarmak, FAO economist for more details). Moreover, EastFruit analysts believe that this method will also mitigate damage from such frosts, since later varieties are more protected in such situations.

The apricots and almonds were the most affected by two successive frost waves. Losses of apricot harvest can reach 60-65% on average in Uzbekistan at the moment. Almond yield losses are estimated within the same range, or even slightly higher.

About half of peach, nectarine and plum harvest in Uzbekistan can be lost.

Cherry crops seem to have suffered less in the Fergana Valley. However, even here, 5-15% of the harvest may be lost, and problems with the quality of the fruits may also arise. In the Metropolitan area, almost all of cherries have been lost, according to preliminary estimates – farmers expect to receive only about 10% of what they had previously expected. In Bukhara and Samarkand regions, only 50-70% of the expected cherry harvest will be gathered. On average in the country, losses in sweet cherry yield are estimated at 25-30%.

Several farmers surveyed have already noted that now the flowers of some fruit trees do not look “healthy”. Even though they bloomed after the February and March frosts, there is no certainty about the quantity and quality of their future harvest.

Such significant losses, on the one hand, can lead to an increase in prices in the domestic fruit market, and, on the other hand, low-quality fruits are unlikely to be sold at a high price on the fresh market. The supply of raw materials to producers of juices, purees, concentrates and dried fruits will also decrease, which means that high prices should be expected here.

According to EastFruit, in 2020 Uzbekistan exported to the Russian market directly more than 217 thousand tons of fresh and dried fruit and nuts worth about $ 224 million. However, in 2021 the volume of Uzbek fruit exports to Russia will sharply decrease.

Сообщение Prices of Uzbek apricots, plums, peaches, nectarines and almonds are expected to soar due to frost loses появились сначала на EastFruit.