It's early plum season in Moldova; what about the harvest and prices?

Last week, the sales season for early varieties of plums began in Moldova. This year, the start happened a week earlier than in 2023, but a week later than in 2022, EastFruit reports. The harvest of these fruits is small; according to expert estimates, it is two-thirds lower than last year’s level. However, the starting prices for the first plum – 17-18 lei/kg – are 12-17% higher than at the beginning of the season last year. At the moment, the plum harvest of the earliest variety, “Chachakskaya rannyaya”, is almost completely sold out, notes AgroExpert. The yield of plum orchards of this variety, even intensive ones, did not exceed 15-20 t/ha. But the next (according to harvest dates) plum varieties, “Chachakskaya most” and “Peteshtyanka”, had even worse ovaries this year. Gardeners explain this circumstance by biological periodicity (last year the early plum harvest was high, this year it is in decline) and unfavorable weather conditions during the pollination period. In April, ...