Half of Hungarian apple plantations may disappear

Published Mar 28, 2023

Tridge summary

Hungary's apple harvest in 2022 was significantly lower than the previous year, with a total of 280,000 tons, due to weather damage from drought and flowering weakness. The loss is also attributed to the decrease in apple-growing area and the aging of plantations. An expert predicts that the trend will continue, with the area likely to reduce to 20-21 thousand hectares by the end of this year. The current eco-subsidy system may prevent the closure of outdated plantations until 2025, but their performance is expected to decline, leading to more abandonment of apple cultivation. The focus is now on transitioning to modern, sustainable plantations.

Disclaimer:The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

"Last year, the total Hungarian apple harvest was 280,000 tons, which is significantly lower than the 520,000 crowns in 2021, so that the 520,000 tons in 2021 cannot be called a large harvest, or it is not close to our production potential of 600-650,000 tons" − said Ferenc Apáti, the president of FruitVeb, on InfoRádio. The primary reason for last year's large crop loss is due to weather damage, although in 2022 the apples were not destroyed by frost damage, but by the preceding drought. Last spring, the flowering was already weak, so it was already clear that there would be no outstanding crop. In addition, in the northeastern region - where 70 percent of the apple-growing area is located - there was a cooling during Easter, which probably worsened the condition of the flowers. The loss of crops is not only caused by weather damage, but also by the fact that the Hungarian apple-growing area is constantly decreasing over a period of 5-8 years. In addition, the plantations are ...

Source: Index