The popular autumn delicacy in Hungary, the walnut, has become cruelly more expensive

According to Eurostat, the EU is a net importer of walnuts. Imports of walnut kernels increased by 7% to 86.5 thousand tonnes, while exports decreased by 6% to 5.2 thousand tonnes in the first eleven months of 2020 compared to the same period last year, according to HelloVidék. Imports of walnuts in shell fell by 2 per cent to 46.2 thousand tonnes and exports by 32 per cent to 4.3 thousand tonnes. More than a third of the country's walnut-growing area is in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county, where in 2020 walnuts were grown on 3,792 hectares. It is followed by Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén and Somogy counties, with 871 and 646 hectares. According to the data of the Central Statistical Office, the nut yield in Hungary was around 3 thousand tons in the mid-1990s, then in 2019 it reached 6.8 thousand tons due to the plantings of recent years. Experts predicted damage to spring frosts and walnut bark beetles in 2020 that half of the average year’s crop was likely in 2020, and that the harvest was ...