The impact of extreme weather: the cherry harvest in Hungary has decreased

By: Trademagazin Date: 2024. 06. 21. 11:02

According to the latest analysis of the National Chamber of Agriculture (NAK) and the Hungarian Fruit and Vegetable Association (FruitVeB), this year’s cherry harvest may be significantly lower than average due to the extreme spring weather conditions. After a mild winter, the early spring quickly started vegetation, but the March and April frosts caused serious damage to the developing fruits, a trend that can be felt across the continent.

According to forecasts, the 2023 cherry harvest is expected to be between 50,000 and 57,000 tons, which is similar to last year’s poor harvest. In the north-eastern part of Hungary, where about half of the cherry-growing areas are located, the results are particularly bad, mainly caused by the frosts in April. In the other regions, however, the yield is expected to remain similar to last year.

Most of the cherry production goes to the canning industry, and the refrigeration and canning season started earlier than usual, already at the beginning of June. Especially in South Transdanubia and Bács-Kiskun, cherry picking started early this year, which makes it possible to close the season earlier.

A significant part of the domestic cherry production is exported, where fresh cherries account for 25% of exports, canned 70%, and frozen only 5%. The export possibilities and purchase prices of Hungarian cherries can be favorably influenced by the fact that the production volume has also decreased in Poland. For this reason, the Polish refrigeration industry in particular suffers from a shortage of raw materials, which is exacerbated by the fact that stocks of frozen cherries have been exhausted throughout Europe. This may cause increased interest in Hungarian cherries not only in the traditional large export markets, such as Poland and Germany, but also in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and the Netherlands.