Frosts: The United States could lose almost 75% of its production of blueberries
The executive director of the Association of Producers of Fruit and Vegetables of Georgia, Charles Hall, informed that there is still no official data, but the losses could be placed on the 50-75%.
Because of the intense frosts last week in the southeastern United States, much of the fruit production would be really compromised, and an industry representative estimated that up to three-quarters of Georgia's blueberry crop could have gone extinct.
Temperatures dropped to about -4 ° C in the blueberry and peach producing regions of Georgia and South Carolina on Wednesday and Thursday morning last week, according to portalfrutícola.com.
The executive director of the Association of Producers of Fruit and Vegetables of Georgia, Charles Hall, said that no official calculation of damages had yet been established, but he foresaw that the losses of the total of the blueberry harvest of the state could be placed in the 50 -75%.
He explained that the effects of weather had been particularly severe since many plants were blooming earlier than normal.
"We had a very warm winter in Georgia and our blueberry harvest was 10-14 days ahead of normal. So there was fruit in many of the bushes in the blueberry industry, and with the low temperatures there was significant damage to the crop during those two nights ", informed to Portalfruticola.com.
He said that, apparently, "Almost all" rabbiteye varieties were lost, but highbush cultivars were less affected.
The state has produced more than 40.000 metric tons of blueberries in previous years.
As for peaches, Hall said it seemed that a high proportion of the earliest varieties would be lost, but later varieties would likely be less affected.
"Some of the later varieties had not bloomed yet, so really in the next two or three weeks we will know what the effects will be".
Hall also expected a loss of around 15% for the state's annual production of spring vegetables such as tomatoes, cucumbers and squash.
Source: Portalfruticola.com
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