There is a serious opportunity in almond production

(Photo: Pixabay)

The National Chamber of Agriculture and the Association of Almond Growers of the Balaton Uplands organized an almond professional day. Almonds, along with walnuts and hazelnuts, are one of our most important nuts. Although we have traditional fruit species and numerous domestically bred varieties, they are grown in a relatively small area in our country, about 500 hectares, of which 136 ha are located in the Balaton Uplands. The annual yield is about 350 tons. We consider it a small crop, but due to its versatile uses and the mechanization of production, almonds have significant potential.

The flow of information and knowledge transfer significantly help the efficiency of production, to which the National Chamber of Agriculture is committed

At the conference held in Balatonalaki, the participants were introduced to numerous technological opportunities in the lecture of Professor Károly Hrotkó, and to the most significant plant protection challenges in the lecture of Professor Béla Pénzes. Furthermore, there was an opportunity to share producer experiences during the lectures of Austrian almond producer Simon Hinterplattner and local almond producer Zsolt Wertán, as well as during the tour of the Balatonakali municipality and Nagyházi Szilvia plantation.

Almond cultivation is similar to apricot in many ways, but it is a crop that can be sustainable for a longer period

Another advantage is that it can adapt to changed climatic conditions without irrigation. Although it is one of the earliest flowering fruit species, winter frosts hardly harm it. The success of almond cultivation depends largely on the selection of the growing area and technology. In Europe, in addition to traditional cultivation methods, modern, intensive plantations are gaining an increasing role, which require significantly less manual labor. A hedge-like plantation structure is created using the so-called flat wall pruning and topping, and the height and width of the leaf wall are determined based on the harvesting machine. The choice of rootstock that is adapted to the cultivation method is crucial. Many foreign varieties, such as Italian or French, are available, but many Hungarian rootstocks with good properties have also been bred. During the selection of varieties, only varieties that have undergone thorough variety testing are allowed to be put into commercial cultivation, and their cultivation technology characteristics have also been studied, right up to the processability of the final product, i.e. the fruit. The success of cultivation is also determined by effective protection against pathogens. The most common problems are monilial (stigminal) disease and phomopsis cane necrosis.

NAK