Will we eat cheaper cherries this summer? After there was almost no harvest last year, and prices did not fall below 16 leva per kilogram, this season the producers are more optimistic.
Lyubomir Dimitrov is among the producers whose harvest last year was completely destroyed, writes BNT.
Lyubomir Dimitrov, a cherry producer from Kyustendil: “I have about 100 decares of cherries, the losses were 100%, I had no fruit at all.“
The expectations this year are for a better harvest. The biggest risk remains late spring frosts.
Lyubomir Dimitrov, cherry grower: “Rain and snow are not a problem, the problem is low temperatures. When it snows, it is around 0 degrees, so that is not a problem, especially at this stage they are in right now. Up to -3, 4, 5 degrees is no problem.“
Even with a good harvest, however, producers are worried about their income.
Kiril Dimitrov, cherry grower: “The purchasing organizations have not proven in recent years that they can do anything to keep the price normal, it is always lower than our costs and with subsidies we cover at least 0, so we cannot develop. The subsidy should come so that we can develop, renew the garden, build some kind of processing plant, and we only cover the costs.“
That's why they are categorical that they will not sell their harvest for nothing. And even though we are already part of the Eurozone, they continue to do their calculations in leva.
Tsvetanka Manzurova, cherry grower: “If the harvest is good, we will not give them for a leva or two, these things are very clear. I will not give them to the resellers for 5 leva, 7 leva.“
So far, the conditions are good, but it turns out that the abundant flowering can affect the quality.
Prof. Dimitar Sotirov, fruit growing specialist, Kyustendil Agricultural Institute: “...a heavy crop can occur, which can cause the fruits to become smaller, and that is not good. So after a lean year comes a full year, and this can be solved to some extent with pruning. Those who have pruned and removed some of the fruiting branches, thinned out, and shortened the trees will still have a good fruit harvest, hopefully, if the weather doesn't play a trick on us.“
Whether this year will compensate for the losses from the previous one will become clear in a few weeks. And for consumers, all they can do is hope that they will be able to try cherries at affordable prices.