In Abkhazia, a Black Sea region of Georgia, the mandarin harvest for the 2025–2026 winter season is forecast to be 40% lower than last year, according to the deputy head of the Gulrypsh district administration.
The decline is linked to the large number of old orchards in the region. Many plantations are biologically old, having been founded in the 1930s and 1940s, particularly in the 1960s and 1970s. About one-third of the orchards are trees planted in the 1990s, which currently provide the majority of the yield.
Old trees typically produce well only every other year, which explains the sharp drop in harvest. If last season growers collected about 20,000 tons of citrus, this year the figure is expected to be around 12,000 tons.
The process of orchard renewal is already underway and is expected to take 5–10 years to complete.
Russia remains the key market for Abkhaz tangerines, with shipments usually starting in October.
Source: vestikavkaza.ru
