July 23 2007, 15:53

Apple harvest is in danger in Ukraine because of widely spread diseases and pests

The Market Monitoring Specialists of CIS produce business periodical ""Agrooglyad: Vegetables and Fruits" weekly" inform about Ukrainian orchardists seriously alarmed with the spreading diseases and pests. They say, warm winter contributed to the reproduction of pests and diseases; hot weather significantly weakened trees, made them more vulnerable to diseases and pests. The efficiency of the application of plant protection assets is far from being desired at such high temperature.

So, the preliminary forecasts of 30-35% increase of apple production in Ukraine may be reconsidered downwards in the close future. Moreover, many apple orchards are produced without drip irrigation in the central and southern regions of Ukraine; they suffered a lot from the drought. The perspective yield has significantly declined in these orchards.

Also, the experts of "Agrooglyad: Vegetables and Fruits" forecast that quality apple will cost much more expensive this year than in 2006.