May 8 2007, 10:19

Polish farmers say to lose 90% of fruit and strawberry harvest because of frosts

The wave of frosts of 9 C0 below zero hit the whole territory of Poland in the beginning of May. The frosts took place for several nights along, so that Polish orchards and strawberry fields were inevitably damaged. The old-timers say they have not observed such weather since the end of thirties past century. To the opinion of Andriy Yarmak, the Manager of "Agrooglyad: Vegetables and Fruits" project, this situation will significantly influence the prices for fruits and berries throughout Europe, because Poland is the largest grower and supplier of produce in Europe.

Polish orchardists informed ""Agrooglyad: Vegetables and Fruits" journal" that early frosts fully killed the harvest of early strawberry varieties in some regions. Also, in major regions the harvest of sweet and sour cherry, pear, and even apple was completely lost. Berry fields, which Poland is famous for, are seriously injured, as well as the plantings of early vegetables. The most frost-injured regions are Mazovetskoye, Lubelskoye, Sventokshiskoye, Dolnoshlenskoye, Kuyavsko-Pomorskoye, Podkarpatskoye, Lodzkoye, Malopolskoye and Velikopolskoye provinces.

To the experts' opinion, warm weather resulted in the earlier than usual blooming of orchards. That's why the early May frosts hit Polish orchards at their weak moment - the trees had been already blooming or forming fruits. Polish farmers face even more serious situation because many of them suffered from drought past year; they had to take loans to eliminate the consequences of the drought. Now they are likely to fail paying loans back. However, Polish government has already announced its intention to provide adequate assistance to the farmers; but the government suggested not to rely much on the EU help.

To the opinion of the experts of ""Agrooglyad: Vegetables and Fruits" journal", it is too early to talk about the percentage of the fruit harvest lost; but, it has been already obvious that the harvest of most fruits and berries will be a kind of the lowest for the recent years in Poland. As a result, the price for apples may jump up to the top record level in Poland, if compared to the previous years. Also, with a great share of probability we can say that the prices for early berries and vegetables (especially early onion) will be quite high in this country.