Will fruits be expensive in Poland this year?

2021-05-11 11:12

Although the weather this spring has been highly capricious, the passage of time cannot be stopped and vegetation, albeit slowed down, is progressing. Especially as this year there is at least no shortage of rain and no question of drought. All we need now is a little warmth and sunshine, and nature will flourish. This can already be seen in the Polish orchards, which are blooming beautifully.

Sweet cherry

Cherry

The orchards are in blossom, so they are heavily exposed to the risk of further frosts. The earlier waves of negative temperatures that swept through Europe severely damaged fruit crops in Spain, Italy, France and even further north on the continent. Now that Polish orchards are at a later stage of their vegetation, the threat of frost here is increasing. Synoptics were forecasting a drop in temperatures in the middle of this month, but now it is more likely to be around 18 May. If this were to happen, the losses could again be considerable.

There are already alarming reports in the media about the risk of high prices in the coming season for fruit, especially stone fruit. These texts point to the low supply of fruit as a consequence of a poor harvest as the cause of possible high prices.

It seems too early for such alarmist descriptions of future realities. In Europe the losses are significant, but they mainly concern early varieties. Later varieties have not been as badly affected, and it is the later ones that will determine the total harvest to the greatest extent. Let us wait until the third decade of May and then it will be possible to start assessing and evaluating possible losses.

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