In 2024, a decrease in the harvest of stone fruits such as apples, cherries, plums, as well as berries such as currants, garden strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries, honeysuckle, and others is predicted in Russia. This was reported by Irina Koziy, the general director of the Berry Union and the IA FruitNews.
She pointed out the May frosts in some regions as the cause. Assessing the damage from the frosts is currently difficult, as the majority of farms have not been able to evaluate the plant damage yet. Final data will be available after the establishment of warm weather and the recovery of plants.
In several regions, the temperature dropped to -9 degrees, which is extremely low for this season. This significantly damaged flowers and ties on plants where flowering and fruit formation had already begun. Stone fruits, berries, currants, gooseberries, honeysuckle, apples, raspberries, and garden strawberries suffered the most damage.
It is important to note that there will still be a fruit and berry harvest, but it will be significantly smaller than usual. If warm weather sets in now, late varieties of crops, whose flowering started later, may produce some harvest. However, the situation with currants is very critical.
Since the beginning of May, gardeners have been actively fighting for the harvest, working tirelessly. Over the past two weeks, they have been working around the clock to save the harvest: covering it, fumigating, spraying, etc.
According to Irina Koziy, fruit and berry prices this year will rise by at least 15-20% due to the frosts and the increase in production costs. The rising cost of cultivation, including the increase in logistics and labor costs due to labor shortages, as well as the rise in the cost of necessary materials and services caused by the weakening ruble, are leading to higher prices for products.
The President of the Association of Russian Gardeners, Igor Mukhanin, estimates the damage from the frosts in the central part of the country at the maximum of ten points on a ten-point scale. At the same time, he expresses an optimistic forecast regarding the apple harvest, believing that there is some hope to save part of the harvest through the measures taken. However, the risk of losing up to half of the entire Russian fruit harvest remains real.
The temperature drop also affected the North Caucasus and the Southern Federal District, where about two-thirds of fruits are grown. However, thanks to abnormally early flowering, especially in the South, fruit crops were able to avoid serious consequences as the flowering and pollination process had already been completed.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, in 2023, a new record was set for the collection of fruits and berries, amounting to over 1.75 million tons in the organized sector, exceeding the 2022 data by 1.9%. The main crops grown in Russia are apples, plums, cherries, apricots, currants, raspberries, and strawberries. There is also an increase in blueberry production.
According to the Food Security Doctrine, the minimum level of self-sufficiency in fruits and berries for the country should be 60%. However, according to the Ministry of Agriculture data for 2022, this figure was only 47%.
