August 21 2006, 13:30

Record heat in Georgia will reduce produce harvest and its quality

Long draught and high temperature have been observed on major territory of Georgia in recent months. There were no rainfalls during 40 days. The weather negatively influences the state of vegetable and fruit plantings. The heat of 41-42 oC was observed in some rayons of Eastern Georgia. Nevertheless, to the opinion of some experts, Georgian fruits and vegetables will be of quite good taste exactly due to a lot of sun and warmth. However, marketable appearance will deteriorate.

According to evaluations done by the experts of AgVANTAGE project, unfavorable weather conditions reduced approximately 10-15% the yield of tomato, bell pepper, and egg-plant. And, the quality of the produce declined as well, as modern technologies of fruit and vegetable irrigation have not been wide-spread in Georgia yet. Draught negatively influenced the quality of grown fruits as well (apple, peach and pear). According to the specialists' assessments, the gross output of "extra" and "first" grade fruits will not exceed 60-65 % this year; this figure normally reaches 70 - 80%.

To the experts' opinion, these factors stipulated relatively high wholesale prices on markets in Tbilisi, Rustavi and Batumi. The price for tomato is $ 0.30/kg, bell pepper - $ 0.35/kg. These prices are nearly 25 - 30 % higher than at the same period of time past year.

It is worth mentioning that the representatives of Georgian produce business plan to actively participate in the largest international conferences "Fruits and Vegetables of Ukraine 2006. Open market" to be held December 5-6, 2006 in Kyiv; and "Produce Business in Russia 2006" to be held October 17-19, 2006 in Moscow.