Minister for Agriculture István Nagy has announced that based on 3,700 damage claims submitted electronically until May 19, more than 25 thousand hectares of farmland have been damaged by frost this spring.
Nearly 90% of damage reports were linked to the severe frostwave experienced during the April 6-11 cold snap, when temperatures in some areas dropped as low as -7 to -8°C.
Of the affected land, two-thirds (17 thousand hectares) consisted of orchard crops, primarily apple (6,200 ha), sour cherry (3,100 ha), apricot (2,300 ha), and plum (1,500 ha).
By far the most affected county was Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg, with 8,600 hectares impacted, accounting for roughly one-third of all reported damage. Additionally, more than 2 thousand hectares of frost-related losses were reported in Hajdú-Bihar, Békés, and Bács-Kiskun counties. According to a survey by FruitVeB, Hungary's largest fruit and vegetable growers' organization, the April frosts affected 80% of the country's fruit-growing areas.
The damage to orchards is estimated at several tens of billions of forints — amounting to hundreds of millions of euros.
Source: agroberichtenbuitenland.nl
