Blueberry growers face their worst year in the last 13 seasons
The Lithuanian blueberry season is gradually getting into full swing, but local growers are describing this year’s harvest as one of the poorest in the last decade. Despite the challenges posed by the weather, fresh blueberries from local farmers have already made their way onto the shelves of retail chains. This year, their price is lower than last year.
Although nature has been unforgiving to blueberry growers this year, a 500-gram tub of fresh Lithuanian blueberries currently costs shoppers a whole euro less than last year.
Blueberry bushes growing in low-lying areas were damaged by frost
Mantė Marcinkevičienė, who has been supplying her entire blueberry harvest to retail chains since 2015 from the Dzūkija region, says that although she has been growing blueberries for over 13 years and has faced all sorts of challenges during that time, this year’s season has demanded the most patience of all.
“This has been the most difficult year in all the time we’ve been working. Last year wasn’t great either due to late frosts, and this year, I think, we could lose up to 75 per cent of our potential harvest. We’re saved somewhat by the fact that our fields are on undulating terrain. Some of the crop has survived in the higher areas, but the blueberry bushes in the low-lying areas were practically completely destroyed by the particularly cold winter“, says the blueberry grower.
Last year, M. Marcinkevičienė harvested around 12 tonnes of blueberries from her farm, which covers more than 7 hectares. This year, she says, it is difficult to predict whether she will manage to harvest even 6 tonnes. As well as the vagaries of the weather, diseases can also significantly reduce the blueberry harvest. The main and most dangerous of these, according to the blueberry grower, are anthracnose and grey mould, which can cause the most damage to the berries and destroy the entire harvest.
“The bright blue ripe berries are also eagerly eaten by rooks, crows, jackdaws and magpies. Blueberries are also a real treat for foxes and hares. You simply can’t concrete over a seven-hectare area, and these little creatures can easily get through a simple fence. You plug up one burrow – they soon dig another. That’s how we get on,” smiles the blueberry grower.
M. Marcinkevičienė explains that the fresh blueberries picked on her farm usually reach shop shelves the day after harvesting. The berries are carefully sorted, chilled to a temperature of 2–4 degrees, packed and transported to the logistics centre.
