The ground frost of the end of this April affected the fruit trees because they started to bud earlier, but the damage done to them cannot be yet assessed. The assertions that Briceni district will lose about 100,000 tonnes of apples cannot be true, Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Eduard Grama and other representatives of the Ministry said in a roundtable meeting centering on the frost in northern Moldova and its effects on crops, IPN reports.
Mihai Suvac, division head at the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry, said the sprouting this year began by one month earlier. “We know that the highest probability of frosts is at the end of April and at the start of May, when the trees start to bloom. But this year the blooming was close to an end and the fruit began to form in that period. When the temperatures fell suddenly, in parts to -5 … -7 degrees Celsius, the apple trees were affected. It is now impossible to determine how much the trees were affected as fructification regulation or the so-called fruit falling of June is to occurs. The fruits that the tree cannot maintain fall down,” he stated.
According to Mihai Suvac, the damage could be partially assessed after this process of June. “But the real damage can be determined after the harvesting. We can say that the trees were affected significantly. The autumn and winter apple trees were the worst hit. The early, summer apples were not seriously affected as the fruit on them was better formed. The cherry trees recovered practically. The plum trees are also in a normal state. In general, I would say that there was an impact, but its effects will be established after harvesting,” said the division head.
Minister Eduard Grama said it was earlier reported that over 100,000 tonnes of apples will be lost in Briceni district. “About 55,000 tonnes of apples were collected in Briceni district last year. The average during the past three years didn’t exceed 15 tonnes per hectare. This points to serious deviations from the reality. There is now no methodology for calculating the losses. I saw that some of the producers ask for force majeure certificates. I discussed with the head of the Chamber of Trade and this told me that no agricultural producer submitted applications for obtaining such a certificate,” he stated.
The official noted that after the real losses are determined, they will decide how to compensate for these. But subsidies per kilogram, as earlier, will no longer be provided.
