Ukraine's major fruit-growing regions have been severely impacted by prolonged spring frosts this year, raising concerns over the volume and quality of the upcoming harvest. According to local producers, early-blooming crops like apricots and cherries have taken the biggest hit, particularly in the southwestern Zakarpattia region, where flowering begins earliest.
"Apricot trees have been nearly wiped out in some orchards," said Volodymyr Hurzhiy, head of USPA Fruit. "The early fruits will be few and very expensive this year. Zakarpattia is the first region to bring stone fruits to market, so this will affect national prices significantly."
Further frost damage was reported in central-western areas such as Vinnytsia and Chernivtsi, where apples and other fruit trees had just started blooming. Despite growers applying all available frost protection methods before, during, and after the temperature drops, orchards still suffered losses. Prolonged cold also causes hormonal stress in trees, which may lead to smaller fruit, poor shelf life, and increased fruit drop later in the season.
"We've been monitoring weather and production since 2010," said Hurzhiy, "and we haven't seen frosts this widespread and late in the growth cycle before."
Growers are also preparing for possible cold nights in May. Even slight temperature drops to 2–3°C during flowering could further damage fruit set.
In Chernivtsi, orchard owner Mykhailo Teleshetskyi noted that while apple trees were largely spared, apricots were completely lost. He emphasized the growing interest in stone fruits like peaches due to their better summer prices and lower storage costs compared to apples, which require refrigeration through winter.
Farmers are additionally facing long-term challenges: irrigation is becoming harder due to water shortages, and labor is increasingly scarce in rural areas.
While last year's apple prices hit record highs due to poor yields and summer hailstorms, uncertainty over this year's crop is delaying export contracts. Growers expect to reassess the damage by late May and are considering expansion into new markets such as India and Canada.
Source: agroportal.ua