January 22 2007, 15:20

Will a long hoped-for cooling help the vegetable producers and upset the orchardists again?

It seems that winter is coming to Ukraine and Russia at last. The forecast for this week confirms this fact. The vegetable producers and the orchardists will feel the decrease of the daily temperatures in practically all regions of Ukraine except Odesa oblast and AR Crimea where an average temperature will remain above 0°С.

The temperature can decrease down to -5-7°С by the end of week in the northern oblasts of Ukraine. In Moscow the temperature can go down to -8-13°С on Thursday and -12-17°С on Friday. At the same time, a predominantly warm weather will be preserved in Rostov-on-Don and Krasnodar; however, the frosts down to -3°С are possible. The neighboring Poland will feel a significant temperature decrease as well; the air temperature can go down to -5-10°С in the central part of the country by the end of week. To the opinion of the specialists of "Agrooglyad: Vegetables and Fruits" journal, the cold weather is sure to cheer up the vegetable producers and the companies which store fruits and vegetables in the storages without the forced ventilation, because the temperature decrease means the improvement of storage conditions for the products. If the cold weather stays long, the percentage of fruit and vegetable losses during the storage period will be reduced. On the other hand, the decreased losses of fruits and vegetables in the storages will result in the supply growth in February-April and the consequent price decrease.

At the same time, the dramatic temperature drop can seriously affect the fruit and berry producers cause fruit trees' and bushes' appearance is the same now as it should be in March-

April in many regions. If the daily temperature decrease will equal the forecasted levels, the frosts won't seriously affect the fruit trees.

However, if the temperature decrease is more dramatic, the fruiting buds will be partially damaged on apple, pear, plum and other fruits trees in the western and northern regions of Ukraine and also in many regions of the Russian Federation. Still, it is too early to speak about fruit trees' damage. The weather forecast is now favorable for most orchardists in the southern regions of Ukraine and Russia.