The Summit of the International Blueberry Organization will be hosted in Poland this year, which will present an opportunity for the Polish growers, says Dominika Kozarzewska of the Polish Berry Cooperative: “This season will be unique for Polish blueberry growers, as we are hosting the Summit of the International Blueberry Organization, a truly global meeting of the blueberry industry, which is for the first time taking place in Europe. We will therefore be able to showcase our plantations, including the largest organic and conventional blueberry farms on the continent, and state-of-the-art packing and sorting facilities. Quality-wise, the weather has so far been to our advantage this year, so we are sure we can pick excellent blueberries. With limited availability of labour, many growers have started diversifying the sources of their pickers, and are preparing to take in workers from Asian countries.”
Recently Poland was hit by spring frosts. Although the earlier frosts didn’t really have a big impact on the production, the most recent frost cause a lot of damage, Kozarzewska explains. “Winter weather has had a limited negative impact on blueberry buds, with damage to some cultivars only, which were mostly Bluecrop and Chandler. However, frost in early June caused considerable losses on some farms, in some places up to 60%. The impact of the frost was very varied, depending on specific location, so it is hard to estimate its cumulated effect on the overall Polish blueberry crop. However, due to these losses, we are expecting a lower crop than in 2022.”
More and more plantation popped up in Poland over recent years. The growth of blueberry production did lose some pace recently though, Kozarzewska states. “The last five years saw an unprecedented increase in blueberry acreage in Poland, reaching almost 12,000 hectares in 2022. In some years, the pace of growth exceeded 20 per cent, but between 2021 and 2022 it went down to 8 per cent. This decrease is believed to be due to increasingly limited availability of labour. However, volumes, which are currently estimated at 64 thousand tons in 2022, are still growing fast, as fields established in the era of intense planting enter into full production now.”
Although a lack of bees is a growing problem in European countries, Kozarzewska feels there isn’t any issue with the bees in certain areas in Poland: “Most Polish growers use honeybees, bumblebees and wild bees to ensure good pollination. Actually, in contrast to some other countries, bees are doing quite well in Poland, and one of the main blueberry growing regions, Lubelskie, in places has actually too many bees compared to the area,” she concludes.
For more information:
Dominika Kozarzewska
Polish Berry Cooperative
Tel. +48 602 354 586
Email: d.kozarzewska@polskiejagody.pl