In 2018, Russia expects to harvest about 14 percent more soft fruits and fruit from trees than in the previous year, according to the forecasts published by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation, reports Fruit-inform.
Russia believes that this growth is possible thanks to the orchards planted three to five years ago; however, according to experts, it will not be easy to obtain greater volumes, as some of the fruit plantations that have existed for 25-30 years are gradually starting to yield less fruit.
This year, growers expect to harvest 3.3 million tonnes of fruit and berries in Russia, which is 13.8% more than a year ago; however, it should be noted that this still depends on the weather conditions. Last year, the production volume could have been higher, but it was prevented by frost during the flowering stage.
Russia’s self-sufficiency in fruit production in 2017 was only 36%, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, and this despite the fact that the state has already compensated agricultural producers for a part of the funds for the creation of new orchards from 2010.
Thanks to state support measures, an average of 10.5 thousand hectares of orchards devoted to berry cultivation have been planted in Russia each year. In 2017, this figure stood at 15.2 thousand hectares. This year, there are plans to set up approximately 11.3 thousand hectares more.