site.btaCherry Crop in Bulgaria's Biggest Cherry Growing Region Entirely Destroyed by Winter and Spring Frost

Cherry Crop in Bulgaria's Biggest Cherry  Growing Region Entirely Destroyed by Winter and Spring Frost

Kyustendil, Southwestern Bulgaria, April 24 (BTA) - The cherry crop in the southwestern Kyustendil region has been entirely destroyed by the harsh weather conditions in winter and spring, Dr Nikolai Hristov of the Kyustendil Agriculture Institute told BTA Monday.

Kyustendil and the surrounding region is the largest cherry-growing region in Bulgaria. In a good year, the registered cherry output is some 7,000 t in Kyustendil Region and 37,000 t in the whole of Bulgaria.

Dr Hristov said that the crop was already severely damaged in January when the temperatures dropped to minus 29.5C. On April 22, the temperature went down to 3.7 per cent below zero and on April 24 to minus 6C.

"Our cherry crop is a total loss this year," Hristov said of the cherry orchards of his Institute. He hopes that some orchards in more sheltered areas might have been spared.

Late-spring frost in April and May last year destroyed more than half of the cherry crop and supply of cherries from this part of Bulgaria was very limited.