Spring Frosts: Fewer Apricots and Peaches This Year

Fewer apricots and peaches may be harvested this year due to spring frosts, especially of the early varieties that can be harvested in June, FruitVeb Hungarian Fruit and Vegetable Interbranch Organization and Product Council said in a summary published on its website on Tuesday.

The arctic cold snap on March 15 has not yet caused any major damage, with only a few varieties of apricot blooming, and only in the southern Transdanubian region. Other apricot varieties and fruit species were still well into flowering. By the second cold snap, on  March 27, apricots and peaches were already in bloom throughout the country, and plums and cherries in the south. Other fruit species were 1-3 weeks from the start of flowering, depending on region and variety, they said.    

Where it was no colder than minus 1-2 degrees Celsius, pre-flowering crops were not affected and flowering crops were hardly damaged. Cooling temperatures of minus 3-4 degrees Celsius caused a few tens of percent flower damage in crops in flower or a few days before flowering, especially in apricots, peaches and cherries. Pre-flowering crops were at most moderately affected.

From minus 5-6 degrees Celsius, damage to flowering crops was as high as total and significant in pre-flowering crops, especially cherries and plums. Flower storms on these are significant in the south of the country, while the other fruit species are perhaps not yet a major problem, according to the trade organization.

Flowering is expected to be average to good, depending on the fruit species, but last year's drought may have caused the flowers' fertility to be less than perfect, especially in unirrigated plantations, they added. Ferenc Apáti, president of FruitVeB, declined to comment on the extent of the crop damage for the time being because the extent of the loss cannot yet be estimated.

It is uncertain what proportion of fruit plantations have suffered critical chilling, and flower damage does not necessarily mean a similar level of crop damage, the statement said. In a favorable scenario, a major loss of flowers may not necessarily result in a major loss if conditions are right afterwards.

Experience shows that 70-80% flower damage is unlikely to result in a good crop. It can also happen that there is no visible frost damage to the flower organs, but they are so damaged by the cold that the fruit is detached from the tree during the clear fall 4-6 weeks after flowering due to a binding defect. Significant fruit drop may also occur in the weeks before harvest. The frost risk period lasts until mid-May, after which a yield estimate can be made, FruitVeb said.