The experts of the Federation of Agricultural Producers of Moldova (FARM) note that after stagnation in 2020, the process of increasing wages for seasonal workers resumed in the fruit growing sector last year. If farms of medium size and average modernization level paid workers hired to harvest fruits, berries and grapes about 200-250 MDL per day ($11-14) in 2020, the range of their daily wages increased to 280- 300 MDL ($16-17) in 2021.

Of course, there were deviations from this level of payment. In particular, many table grapes growers with plantations of the Pergola type paid seasonal workers more than the average – up to 450 MDL ($25) per day in some periods of the season. However, it was also reported that the average level of wages for day workers fell below 200 MDL in some regions. In general, fruit growers noted more complicated hiring of day laborers, even when enterprises were ready to pay more than in 2020.

Given the high inflationary expectations and the outflow of labor migrants that started immediately after the winter holidays, most fruit-growing associations believe the labor shortage to increase this year. But few farmers say they intend to raise wages for full-time and seasonal workers at least by the expected inflation rate of the national currency.

It should be taken into account that many agricultural producers in Moldova consider the low labor productivity of seasonal workers to be a limiting factor in the growth of wages, given their advanced age of the workers available on the domestic market.

Сообщение Moldovan growers expect worsening labor shortage in 2022 появились сначала на EastFruit.

Given the high interest in growing raspberries in Ukraine due to their high prices, investors from other sectors of agriculture or other business spheres often come to this sector. EastFruit analysts recently published a handy checklist for investors looking to invest in raspberries.

However, we would like to consider in more detail one of the aspects of the berry business that will be relevant for those willing to grow not only raspberries, but other berries: blueberries, honeysuckle, strawberries, currants, etc. This is a labor factor that many underestimate for some reason.

“Ukrainians have been going for seasonal jobs to harvest raspberries and other berries in Poland, Great Britain and other countries of Central and Western Europe for many years. Therefore, it might seem that there is an excess of labor in Ukraine. However, that is not true. Labor is the main constraining factor in the development of the berry business, especially in some regions, and it will become a real challenge for the berry growers of Ukraine in the coming years.” says Andriy Yarmak, economist at the Investment Centre of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Poland has faced this problem for a long time. However, it has a reasonable policy to attract foreign seasonal workers and simplify their employment. This year, Serbia also faced this for the first time, and started attracting workers to harvest raspberries, even from India and Mongolia! In the meantime, mainly seasonal berry pickers from Albania work there.

“Industry associations in Ukraine urgently need to prepare regulatory acts to facilitate the employment of seasonal workers. Moreover, many countries have had such experience and there is no need to invent anything. The second most important point is that now we need to think about the legal attraction of foreign labor to harvest berries, for example, from the countries of Central Asia, and to coordinate their legal employment with the government. Again, there is the experience of neighboring Poland, which can be taken as a basis. Otherwise, Ukraine will plant thousands of hectares of new raspberry and blueberry plantations, and there will be no one to pick berries. The cost of harvesting is no longer a question here – in many regions it is already difficult to find people willing to work in the harvesting of raspberries, and it is getting worse every year.” Andriy Yarmak adds.

Leading international experts of the berry industry will present in more details the prospects of the berry business in Ukraine on December 3 in Kyiv at the 17th international conference “Fruits and Vegetables of Ukraine 2021. New Investment Opportunities”.

Сообщение The shortage of seasonal workers will be a critical factor of the berry business in Ukraine – opinion появились сначала на EastFruit.

High prices for raspberries in 2021 led to a new round of growing interest in raspberries not only in Ukraine, where the second raspberry boom is expected, but in Poland, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other countries engaged in their industrial cultivation.

According to EastFruit experts, many investors while expanding the areas planted with raspberries underestimate the importance of affordable labor for harvesting berries. Indeed, the combine harvesting of raspberries, even for freezing, is not effective today, since quality suffers. Accordingly, the price for it will be low compared to manual harvesting. This means that labor prices for harvesting raspberries in many countries may rise sharply next year.

A good example is Serbia, where, according to Sputnik Serbia, a shortage of labor for harvesting raspberries is forcing producers to look for workers even in far countries such as India and Mongolia. After all, the current record high purchase price for frozen raspberries reaching $4.2-4.9 per kg in Serbia allows to invite labor from anywhere in the world. However, this poses serious difficulties amid the coronavirus pandemic and restrictions on international travel.

Therefore, berry pickers now mainly come from the countries of the region, primarily from Albania. How much are Albanian workers paid to harvest raspberries in Serbia? According to the source, Albanian seasonal workers earn about €30 a day harvesting Serbian raspberries, while they are also provided with food and accommodation.

EastFruit experts note that this is much more than the prices for raspberry harvesting in Ukraine, where workers receive an average of 500 to 600 UAH per day of work (€16-20). However, Ukraine also sells raspberries for export cheaper than Serbia. Serbia is one of the largest suppliers of frozen raspberries to countries such as the USA and Canada, where you can get a high price for high-quality raspberries, while Ukraine is just starting to export there.

By the way, getting a higher price for a finished product would also allow Ukraine to consider hiring seasonal workers from countries where the level of wages is lower and the labor force is abundant. For example, from Tajikistan or Uzbekistan. However, it is also important to have the support of the state. In Serbia, the Agrarian Ministry actively supports such initiatives and creates conditions for the attraction and legal employment of foreign seasonal workers.

In the context of high raspberry prices, Serbia is already planning to attract cheap labor from other countries in Asia and Africa. Companies specializing in the import of labor are emerging in the country, which also provide accommodation and food for workers in the region where the bulk of Serbian raspberries are grown.

In Ukraine only the expansion of plantations is being discussed so far, without regard to the fact that it is very difficult to find workers for berry harvesting.

Сообщение Serbia hires seasonal workers from India and Mongolia to harvest raspberries появились сначала на EastFruit.

Lack of labor in Georgia’s agricultural sector worries many farmers during the harvesting season. In an interview with EastFruit farmers said that large farmers are more likely to find the workers they need than small ones but hiring seasonal workers has become more expensive this year for all. Some growers see mechanized harvesting as a solution to this problem.

Farmers cited working-age immigration as the main reason for labor shortages. According to official statistics, the rural population in Georgia has decreased by 8% over the past 10 years. Local residents prefer to travel to other countries in search of seasonal work, as they expect higher salaries and stable jobs.

Farmers report a 15-29% increase in daily wages for pickers in 2021 compared to 2020. In particular, in the Kakheti region, the daily wage has increased from 30-35 GEL last year to 35-45 GEL ($ 11-14) this season. Salaries have also increased in the Samegrelo region, where the hazelnut harvesting season is at its peak. At the beginning of the season, the daily wage in Samegrelo was 35 GEL, but now some farmers are paying 50 GEL ($ 16) as the demand for labor has increased at a peak. Lack of labor was also a problem for berry growers, who have already completed their main season this year.

Read also: The harvest of hazelnuts in Georgia is hampered by a labor shortage

Since harvesting is the most labor-intensive process in a farm, mechanization may be a solution for some growers. In orchards where harvesting is still done manually, stone fruit, apple and berry producers (other than blueberries) are less likely to mechanize harvesting in the near future. Most likely, large growers of hazelnuts and blueberries will invest in harvesting machines in Georgia.

One of the farmers looking to invest in a harvester is the hazelnut grower Tengiz Dolidze from the Samegrelo region. He is an average farmer with a 20-hectare orchard but believes that even with a medium-sized production, it is worth investing in a harvester.

“The price of a hazelnut harvester depends on its specifics and country of production. There are Italian machines costing 7-10 thousand euros on the market. On a smaller budget, you can buy Turkish ones. These harvesters can replace 35 workers a day and last 15-20 years. Considering my seasonal labor costs, investing in a harvester is financially worthwhile. I will definitely buy it next season.” Dolidze said.

Dolidze has a 5-year-old hazelnut orchard with two more years left until full maturity. Now he needs 20 workers for two weeks to harvest. He pays 50 GEL per day for each employee. Dolidze explained that labor costs will increase in the coming seasons as the orchards mature.

According to Otar Sherozia, head of the Farmers’ Union, which brings together 18 commercial hazelnut growers in Georgia with a total of 1,960 hectares of orchards, almost a third of their members are already using or about to invest in a harvester. Otar Sherozia himself has a 50-hectare walnut orchard, planted 5 years ago. He is considering buying a harvester in two years, when the farm is fully productive.

“I saw how combine harvesters work in Georgia, and the results are good. But before using them, growers must prepare the orchard for it. For the machine to work properly, the surface must be level. It can take a while to prepare it, so they shouldn’t expect just buying a harvester to be enough” he said.

In addition to hazelnut growers, Georgia’s largest blueberry farm, GeorgianBlue, is also set to test the harvester next season. The company owns 35 hectares of blueberry orchards and plans to further expand production. In an interview with EastFruit, a representative of the company, Rati Morchiladze, explained that this season has shown them the inevitability of a shortage of labor. With the company’s plans to expand and increase harvests each year, it will be nearly impossible for them to mobilize the required number of pickers in the near future as they will need to hire hundreds of people in a short period of time.

“Starting next year, we plan to test a combine harvester in some areas of our farm. Despite the hilly landscape, about half of the orchards can be harvested by machines. We hope to harvest high quality blueberries that will be acceptable to the fresh market, but first we need to test how it will work with the varieties we have. Last year we planted 4 hectares of new orchards with various varieties suitable for machine harvesting,” Morchiladze said.

Mechanized harvesting is only one component of farm mechanization. Many growers in Georgia have already mechanized other orchard operations to hire less workers. For example, many apple and stone fruit orchards in Georgia mechanized watering, fertilization and post-pruning branch management, but harvesting and pruning are still manual operations.

Сообщение Mechanical harvesting is becoming a reality in Georgian orchards появились сначала на EastFruit.

In Western Georgia, the harvest of hazelnuts is actively underway, but farmers are facing a shortage of labor – according to the head of the Association of Nuts Growers, Georgy Todua, the daily salary of pickers has increased to 50 GEL per day (about $ 16), but the shortage is still an unsolved problem. Business Georgia reports.

According to the head of association, this year the harvest increased by 10,000 tons, while the price of nuts ranges from 3 to 7 GEL/kg ($ 0.96–2.24) depending on the quality.

“The harvest of hazelnuts has been going on for almost a week, and so far about 30% of the harvest has been collected. An average quality product costs 6 GEL, a high one – 7, as for low quality nuts, their purchase price is about 3-4 GEL per kg. The quality mainly depends on the growers themselves – those who have not managed carefully the orchards will end up with less income” he said.

At the same time, this year the exports of hazelnuts will grow and amount to 60,000 tons. Among the problems remains a shortage of labor, which is exacerbated by the pandemic.

“We have a labor problem. Salaries have increased, but there are still not enough people. Among the reasons – including the pandemic, since the pickers work in groups, and if someone in one group gets sick with coronavirus, then the whole group is removed from work. Another problem is emigration. Many residents Georgians from rural areas who could work for us have gone abroad, for example, to Turkey. If we recalculate taking into account all expenses, it turns out that we pay no less at harvesting than in Turkey, but many still prefer employment abroad. A large harvest is, of course, very good, but it is bad when there are not enough people to harvest it” said the head of the Nuts Growers Association.

Сообщение The harvest of hazelnuts in Georgia is hampered by a labor shortage появились сначала на EastFruit.

Turkey expects around 700,000 tons of hazelnut harvest this season, which will be about 80,000 tons more than in 2020. As a country with 60-75% shares in both global production & exports of hazelnuts, Turkish supply often determines worldwide prices.

Somewhat mixed signals are coming from Turkey this season: exporters are overall positive about production quantity, while producers voicing their worries about rising costs and unfavorable weather conditions.

According to Turkstat, agriculture input prices in Turkey have risen by 24.43% this May in year-on-year terms. Turkish hazelnut producers had their costs increased by about 70-80% due to rising prices on everything from plant protection to labor.

It’s worth mentioning that expected world average price increase on hazelnuts driven by rising costs of Turkish farmers may be slightly limited by the supply surge in Chile and USA, where hazelnut production is increasing noticeably and already hitting record highs.

Coming from increased costs and limited yields, Turkish producers think that hazelnut purchase price by the Turkish Grain Board (TMO), which sets a price floor and buys hazelnuts at an announced price, will be around 30 Turkish Liras per kg ($3.51). If true, this will be 8% more in USD terms than purchase price announced a year before ($3.24).

TMO price has very strong connection and almost one-to-one correlation to Turkish export prices, which in turn are influencing Georgian prices. Based on Turkish producers’ expectations and price relationships in previous years, we estimate that Turkish shelled hazelnuts from new harvest may be exported at about $7.30-7.70 per kilogram this year.

Georgia’s price is usually lower due to quality issues, and if there were no significant improvements in the upcoming season, we would expect Georgian shelled hazelnut export prices to be close to $6.10-6.40. Given good opinions about Georgia’s upcoming harvest, prices may rise over the mentioned range. Generally, the difference in two countries’ prices are viewed as an opportunity for Georgia to get more revenues by increasing quality.

At the start of this season Georgian farmers are already getting higher prices, but better quality is viewed as the main reason. As reported to Commersant.ge by “Geo Demo” enterprise director Shota Janjgava, the weather this year was drier, which resulted in overall better quality of in-shell hazelnuts.

According to George Todua, the head of the Georgian Hazelnut Growers Association, prices for inputs didn’t change much and plant protection and fertilization of 1 ha of hazelnut orchard costs about GEL 600-800 ($194-258, as of July 26). However, growers most probably will experience higher harvest prices, as there is a shortage of labor force and workers ask GEL 40-50 ($13-16) per day instead of GEL 25-30 ($8-10).

Overall, the whole hazelnut market is awaiting TMO to announce its purchasing price for the upcoming season. Turkish producers have good reasons to hope for higher price this year. Georgian farmers are also likely to get better prices due to quality improvements.

Сообщение Hazelnut harvesting will begin in a week появились сначала на EastFruit.

The international market for fruits and vegetables is changing under the influence of the spread of coronavirus and quarantine measures in many countries.

Manufacturers expect that logistic restrictions imposed to combat the virus are likely to affect the availability of some agricultural resources, such as fertilizers and agrochemicals, as well as agricultural machinery and equipment components. Difficulties in attracting seasonal workers to harvest and other adverse effects are possible. FruitNews provides an overview of reports on the impact of coronavirus on the fruit and vegetable industry, citing Freshplaza and FreshFruitPortal.

In China, at the very beginning of the epidemic, an outbreak of coronavirus had a major impact on fruit and vegetable producers. On the one hand, the supply and receipt of raw materials were blocked for some companies. On the other hand, in some areas vegetables and fruits accumulated and spoiled. Due to the deficit and additional costs for harvesting, transportation, and wholesale trade, which grew due to the epidemic, the prices of some products rose to peak values. In response, a number of agricultural companies decided to publicly support public policy. Major suppliers like Lankuaikei Agriculture Development Co. Ltd (Shanghai) and Cau Futong Co. Ltd (Hebei) offered assistance by guaranteeing the supply of fruits and vegetables. The market began to recover. As a result, the price of pepper stopped at about 8 yuan ($ 1.15) per 0.5 kg, the price for 0.5 kg of tomatoes is 5 yuan ($ 0.72), and for 0.5 cucumbers – 5 yuan ($ 0.72), that is, about the same level as in the previous year. Many wholesale agricultural markets have resumed their activities, and the number of active trading companies is increasing. The exceptions are wholesale markets in the most affected areas of Hubei Province, as well as companies that are still in quarantine. More than 95% of the leaders of the largest horticultural and processing enterprises resumed their activities.

Due to the situation with coronavirus, many mass events, in particular conferences and exhibitions devoted to agriculture, are canceled. For example, the International symposium on strawberry cultivation in northern Italy, Viva Fresh Expo in Texas, the World Berry Congress in Rotterdam, Foodex in Japan, the EMPACK 2020 exhibition in the Netherlands, the IBA (International Blackcurrant Association) 2020 conference in Ukraine and many others were canceled.

In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has decided to suspend inspections of foreign products until April because of the risk of COVID-19 infection. As explained by the FDA, conducting critical inspections will be considered on an individual basis. The FDA explained that in cases where the Office is temporarily unable to inspect foreign-made products, “additional tools” are used as a temporary measure. These additional measures include a ban on the import of unsafe products, a physical examination, sampling of products when crossing the US border, and studying the history of FDA compliance by the company earlier. The Office will continue to work with the US Customs and Border Guard to identify products that do not meet regulatory requirements. The FDA plans to use the Import Screening Tool (PREDICT) to research imported products.

Australia is concerned about the impact of the coronavirus situation on the citrus market. According to Nathan Hancock, CEO of Citrus Australia, demand in markets such as China remains high, but logistics problems may arise due to reduced flights. In addition, the history of coronavirus will affect the arrival of seasonal workers. Therefore, the company recommends that all manufacturers prepare a contingency plan in case of an unforeseen situation in order to minimize risks during harvesting and the absence of workers.

However, there is good news. Research firm Nielsen believes the outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) could boost consumer demand for local products. According to representatives of the company’s press service, “the crisis conditions and concerns about the origin of products and their ingredients will contribute to increased demand for products from local suppliers.” Among consumers surveyed by Nielsen experts in Italy, India, Thailand, the Philippines, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, and the United States, local products are already preferred.

Сообщение Coronavirus: Difficulties in the fruit and vegetable markets caused by quarantine появились сначала на EastFruit.