While the harvest of the famous "Wachauer Marille" is ready to get underway, consumers can already stock up on other early-ripening varieties of the popular fruit, locally grown.
For instance at the farm of Diana Müller in Krustetten, Krems district. In addition to viticulture, the family farm has long been dedicated to apricots. "The apricot is a very sensitive fruit that needs a lot of care, patience and expertise. Frost and extreme precipitation are a major threat to the harvest every year. With targeted measures, such as frost protection, it has been possible to keep failures within limits through innovation and experience."
While in the Wachau region the harvest of the varieties 'Ungarische Beste' and 'Klosterneuburger' is ready to get started, more precocious varieties such as 'Tsunami', which are mainly grown in the Weinviertel region, can already be bought by consumers since mid-June," says Müller, who also represents Lower Austria's farmers as a provincial councilor in the Lower Austrian Chamber of Agriculture.
Apricot country number 1
Lower Austria is also this year the apricot country number 1, because in no other province more apricots are cultivated. The area under cultivation in Lower Austria this year is once again around 650 hectares, compared to just under 1,000 hectares in Austria, including Lower Austria. This means that two out of three Austrian apricots come from the blue-yellow farmers, the majority from the Wachau and Weinviertel regions.
Lower Austrian Farmers' Union Director Paul Nemecek wishes consumers lots of enjoyment from this year's apricots: "Those who buy local are rewarded with the best quality and also protect the climate and the environment. Lower Austria's farmers work 365 days a year to provide us all with fresh food, buying foreign fruits and vegetables is not necessary and a slap in the face of domestic agriculture and all environmental and climate protection measures."
Source: noebauernbund.at