Frosts have left apples in short supply: growers in the Panevėžys region have already emptied their stores

The predictions of the country's apple growers have come true – Lithuanian apples will be a luxury this year, and you'll have to look hard to find them. The big orchardists have already finished emptying their stores and have calculated that there will be enough Lithuanian apples to last until about mid-February. Apple growers in the Panevėžys district no longer have any apples of their own, except for themselves.

We talk to Vitalija Kuliešienė, the head of the Lithuanian Business Orchards Association „Vaisiai ir uogos“, to find out why local apple growers no longer have any apples left.

– How did it happen that we no longer have Lithuanian apples? And it's only the beginning of February.

– It would be very good to have enough apples until mid-February. Last spring, the apple trees were damaged by frost, so we have no Lithuanian apples. Maybe it would be better for the larger farms to have their own Lithuanian apples to last until mid-February.

– And what about apples in the Panevėžys region?

– Maybe Rimantas and Vaiva Urbonavičiai and Paulius Speičys still have apples, but they do not sell in markets but through supermarkets. However, I do not think that they have a surplus of apples either.

– What would you say about the Dembava nursery?

– Dembava Nursery's apple harvest was only 8 tonnes and they only picked summer apples. The apple trees suffered from spring frosts and the apples grew only on those apple trees that had flowered before the frost. As a result, they have no apples left for a long time.

– So now we're going to eat Polish apples?

– They are already bringing them from Poland. Although the apple trees in Poland have received frost, the size of the orchards there is bigger. Therefore, they have more apples.

– Or is this winter thanks to apple growers?

– It is impossible to say now how it will be and what the harvest will be. We have to wait for spring, but the apple trees are ready because last year there was no harvest. The apple trees have used all the material to produce buds and shoots. In the absence of frost, gardeners are expecting a good harvest.