The stone fruit harvest in Ukraine could decline significantly
Due to spring frosts, Ukraine may lose a significant portion of its apricot, cherry, sweet cherry, and plum crops, while apples and pears have been affected to a much lesser extent. Experts warn that the full extent of the losses will only become clear in early summer, but there are already serious risks for the fruit market and a possible rise in prices. Professor Olena Kishchak told UNIAN that peaches, sweet cherries, sour cherries, and plums have also been affected.
This year, spring in Ukraine has been unstable and unpredictable, with warm spells suddenly giving way to nighttime cold snaps, and this is what hit fruit trees the hardest, especially the so-called stone fruits—apricots, cherries, sweet cherries, plums, and peaches—which began to bloom too early and simply could not withstand the subsequent waves of frost.
According to Professor Olena Kishchak, head of the Breeding and Technology Department at the Institute of Horticulture of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences, the situation unfolded in stages: first, unseasonably warm March temperatures of up to +16…+18°C stimulated premature blooming even in late varieties, and only then did night frosts arrive, dropping to -4°C in some places and even to -7°C in others, which proved critical for the flowers and fruit buds.
“Undoubtedly, early varieties of stone fruit crops, which bloomed en masse during two waves of prolonged cold spells, are at risk of partially losing their biological productivity potential,” Kishchak explained, adding that apricots and cornelian cherries proved to be the most vulnerable due to their early blooming.
At the same time, apple and pear trees suffered significantly less, as their flowering occurred after the main frosts, when the risk to the fruit set was minimal; therefore, the outlook for these crops remains relatively stable.
Experts emphasize that it is still too early to draw final conclusions about losses, as some fruit can naturally drop even from healthy trees, and it will only become clear in early June how severely the harvest has been affected in different regions.
Preliminary estimates already suggest potential losses of up to 50% for peaches and up to 60% for apricots, which will inevitably affect the domestic market, where shortages are traditionally offset by imports; this, in turn, could push fruit prices up by 20% to 80%, depending on the situation.
Despite this, experts note that not all crops are in the same difficult situation—in particular, this season’s strawberry harvest began without any major setbacks, and the market is expected to see a relatively stable supply of this berry without a significant shortage.
A petition calling for no increase in public transportation fares in Kyiv had gathered the required number of signatures for consideration by city authorities in less than a day as of May 19. The initiative emerged amid discussions of a possible fare hike in the capital and sparked a strong reaction among city residents.
Earlier, a petition against raising public transit fares was registered in Kyiv.
In Lviv, public transit fares were raised on May 16, and now prices depend on the payment method and can reach 30 hryvnias per trip. Authorities attribute the fare increase to rising costs for fuel and vehicle maintenance.
