
Vitaliy Gorinchoy
This pessimistic forecast was voiced during the recent festival “Fruit Day” by the chairman of the Moldova Fruct Association, Vitalie Gorinchoi. Last marketing year, about $290 mln worth of fruit products were exported to foreign markets.
The forecast is based on the estimation of potential losses of fruit harvest from late spring frosts and hailstorms, made by the results of a sample survey by the Association of 100 fruit growers from 20 districts of the country. In particular, the level of physical losses, depending on the type of fruit products, is estimated in the range from 52% (apples) to 97% (apricots). In value terms, the shortfall of the harvest and additional expenses for its salvation from weather disasters are estimated at more than 700 million lei.
However, fruit agribusiness operators note that a more relevant forecast of the 2025 fruit harvest will appear at the end of June, when the prospects for the actual production of late varieties of stone fruits, as well as apples, will become clear.