The analysts at EastFruit are constantly assessing the severity of damage caused to vegetable and fruit crops in Ukraine by the recent frosts. To get a brief overview of our preliminary assessment, go to the beginning part of our analysis. Notably, as of May 9th, this year evening temperatures have plummeted temperatures as low as -8degC.

The regions in Lviv, Ternopil, and Khmelnytsky the early-season fruit crops of blueberries and raspberries were severely affected as some farms suffer destruction that affected up to 50%-70 percent of their harvest. Frost damage was seen in small patches and did not affect certain regions totally. The temperatures at night in these areas have risen to an extreme low of -5degC and pose a major risk to the survival of the berry crop. But, later-season varieties are currently showing higher resistance.

The reports coming from Vinnytsia and Kyiv reveal a complete reduction in the upcoming early-season blueberry harvest. It was originally planned for harvesting after the beginning of June. The condition of late-season berry varieties is still too early to be determined.

The Sumy region has seen an utterly devastating loss of most of the early (summer) blueberry harvests due to the night temperature dropping to an alarming -8 degrees. Central regions have seen damages of up to 15% to blueberry plants in the early season.

Forecasters predict sub-zero nighttime temperatures throughout a large area of Ukraine over the next few days. In the following days the transition towards milder, more favorable conditions to the growth of plants is anticipated. However, the risk for Ukraine’s berry, fruit and vegetable crops is still.

Source: east-fruit.com