The April frosts caused massive damage to the apricot and peach groves. According to Peter Kliman, vice president of the Hungarian fruit and vegetable organization FruitVeB, it is not yet possible to quantify the yield loss, as most fruit varieties are still in bloom or have not started in some places.
In our opinion, in the case of the apricots and peaches, the farmers suffered great damage.
Peter Clemen told Index. According to him, due to the geographical location of the production areas, the damage is greater in the case of peaches than in the case of apricots.
FruitVeB’s vice president said that about a quarter of the apricot-growing area is in Borsod, and flowering in this northeastern part began so late that farmers there are still hoping. This is because, as it stands, it is still reasonable to have half a crop.
The situation is no better in the case of the peaches, in fact: Much of its production area is concentrated in the province of Csongrád-Csanád, and the frost has hit the trees in full bloom, according to Peter Clement, the situation there looks very disastrous. over there.
He said he did not want to talk more specifically about prices, “in the case of apricots, it is very unlikely that prices will not rise.” Prices depend on many things, which can already be seen in the fact that weather is a problem not only in Hungary, but also in the whole continent, so the supply is likely to be low at the European level, which usually leads to higher prices according to the laws of the economy.
Severe weather poses serious challenges for farmers
The National Chamber of Agriculture overview also highlights that, in general, it will only be possible to know what types of fruit the weather causes and how much damage in the coming weeks. As they write, 2020 will be an unforgettable year for fruit growers – in addition to the difficulties of the Coronavirus – severe frost damage, as a large part of total domestic fruit production has been destroyed by frosts that devastated from early March to mid-May. Only 10 percent of apricots remained in 2020, but few of all fruits grew.
Global climate change that has been going on for many years and the weather is becoming more and more extreme is also a serious challenge to the horticulture sector.
According to the room, due to the continuation of the weather trend, it will be necessary to grow more resistant fruit varieties:
- Due to the inclement weather, it would be appropriate to rethink the local breeding program;
- The time would be appropriate to generalize the establishment of continuous adaptation experiments of the species to be cultivated, on the basis of which it can be decided whether they are compatible with the conditions of local cultivation.
(Cover photo: Apricot trees are being heated by fires to protect them from frost in an orchard near Balatonfelagos on March 31, 2020. Photo: György Varga / MTI)
