The 2024 season has been a real challenge for Ukrainian berry growers. As the President of the Ukrainian Fruit and Vegetable Association, Taras Bashtannik explained in an interview with SEEDS, weather conditions and power outages have significantly affected the berry harvest.
This year's garden strawberry (strawberry) season was the worst in the last 12 years. Spring frosts and rains destroyed almost the entire crop. In some regions, losses reached 75% of the planned harvest. As a result, strawberry prices increased by 40-45% compared to last year.
The raspberry season is just beginning, and this year's harvest promises to be good. Raspberry prices are higher than last year, though lower than the year before last. Blueberries also yielded well, despite concerns over spring frosts. Blueberry prices have already dropped from an initial EUR 7.0 per kilogram to EUR 4.0 and are likely to stabilize at EUR 2.5 – 3.0 per kilogram.
The cherry harvest suffered from excessive rainfall, which led to fruit cracking. However, the biggest problem is the 1.5 times decrease in cherry consumption by the population during the war.
The lack of a stable electricity supply creates serious problems for the processing and storage of berries. Power outages at one of the large factories in Vinnytsia, significantly increase the cost of freezing and processing products. Additionally, an unstable power supply complicates the irrigation of berry crops, which leads to reduced yields.
Source: seeds.org.ua