Baku, Azerbaijan, August 14
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
This year, apple prices in Georgia are expected to rise,Trend reports citing EastFruit.
Moreover, the import of apples into the country is also expected to rise.
According to EastFruit monitoring service's data, the average purchase price for early apple varieties last week in the Shida Kartli region of Georgia ranged from 1-2 lari ($0.3-$0.7) per kg.
According to the forecast of local agricultural producers, this season, as a result of a number of factors, including spring hail, as well as a decrease in yield in many orchards, the apple harvest will be significantly lower than last season, and their prices will be higher.
“This year, farmers and market experts expect high prices for apples. For example, we have already started selling a Gala apple at a price of 2.5 lari ($0.9) per 1 kg, whereas last year the maximum price for our Gala apple was 1.7 lari ($0.6) per 1 kg,” said Zurab Godzhiashvili, representative of the association of three apple-producing companies.
These companies - Tiriphoni Gardens, Kvarkhiti Agro and AgroGori - own, in total, 31 ha of apple orchards (11 ha, 10 ha and 10 ha, respectively) on the territory of the Gori municipality.
According to Godzhiashvili, it is expected that the harvest of apples in the orchards of the companies will last until the end of October, and the total harvest will be about 800 tons.
Godzhiashvili said that the gardens of his companies were not affected by recent hail.
Meanwhile, this year the hail damaged part of the apple orchards of Garneti LLC, also located on the territory of the Gori municipality. According to the director of the company, Gochi Gviniashvili, only 12.5 ha of gardens were covered with anti-hail net, 35 hectares remained unprotected, and as a result, the company expects a crop 50 percent less than forecast.
“As for the prices of apples, in my opinion, they will be higher than last year, probably equal to the prices of imported apples, and the volume of imports will increase. In general, I think prices for apples will not fall below 1 lari per kg,” said Gocha Gviniashvili.
According to the National Statistics Office of Georgia, apple production in Georgia in 2018 amounted to 82,700 tons, 4.2 times more than in 2017. Of the total volume of 72,000 tons or 87.1 percent accounted for the Shida Kartli region.