Poland’s apple sector is anticipating that this season’s total harvest is likely to decrease by between up to 30 per cent this year as a result of damage caused to flowering by heavy rains earlier this year.
According to Dominik Wozniak from leading grower group Cooperativa Rajpol, the damage to this year’s crop came about after adverse weather conditions in May prevented many producers from spraying their trees against pests and diseases.
Growers in Poland’s most important apple production region of Grójec were particularly badly affected by their inability to carry out spraying, which Mr Wozniak said led to a greater instance of the fungus apple scab and russeting.
'There is a lot of apple scab and russeting on fruit and, as a result, I think the sector is going to have a tougher season this year,' he said.
In Rajpol’s own case, Mr Wozniak said the cooperative expected its total volumes to be down by around 15 per cent compared with last season.
However, he said that losses in some of Poland’s apple growing areas could total up to 30 per cent.
Similarly, Dariusz Szymanski from fellow Grójec-based cooperative Nasz Sad said that losses varied considerably according to the location of each grower, explaining that some small producers have lost up to 100 per cent of some varieties.
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