October 17 2006, 12:58

The season of apple harvesting is close to an end in Ukraine

The harvesting season for winter apple varieties is close to an end in the central oblasts of Ukraine, according to information provided to Cherkasy office of the Agricultural Marketing Project. According to the tentative data, the yield of winter apple varieties has turned out to be quite good this year. The yield is 350-400 centners/ha in the intensive orchards; however, this figure is a little bit lower than a year ago. Speaking about quality and yield of apple varieties, the producers report about Champion variety to be the best one. At the same time, winter frosts damaged Jonagold and Golden Delicious varieties most of all; the yield of these varieties is significantly lower.

Apple quality is also worse comparing to the previous year. As a result of difficult weather conditions this season some orchardists failed to control such diseases as scab and mildew. So, the level of apple marketability deteriorated.

According to the preliminary assessments of the specialists of the Agricultural Marketing Project, an average apple yield will be 5-10%, and the gross production 8-12% lower in 2006 comparing to the previous year. You can get more information about the perspectives of orchard development on the conference "Fruits and Vegetables of Ukraine 2006. Open Market" to be held December 5th-6th 2006 in Kyiv on the territory of the National Complex "Expocenter of Ukraine".