The weather forecast of a cold wave for the coming days has sparked serious worries and concerns among growers and representatives of the greenhouse business in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, EastFruit analysts report.
Meteorologists predict that due to the cold air mass from Russia, which is expected between January 10 and January 15, 2023, the air temperature in some regions in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan can drop to -20 or even -22° C during the nights, which is abnormally cold for these countries.
Although even -17° C is a very harmful temperature to the fruit and vegetable business, the temperature should not fall below it at night in most horticultural regions.
The drop in temperatures can pose a very serious problem for the greenhouse business representatives which often have issues with access to sufficient volumes of gas since such a significant decrease in temperature in their greenhouses can lead to an increased number of plant diseases, deterioration in product quality, and to lower harvest.
That, obviously, may result in a serious increase in prices for greenhouse vegetables.
Fruits are among the cultures exposed to the most serious threat since they’re mostly grown in an open field, such as pomegranate trees which have been considered a strategic fruit for Uzbekistan in recent years.
Also in danger are the lemon tree orchards – where lemons and citrus fruits are grown, are in danger- but that might be a blessing in disguise since, this year, the prices for local lemons in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are already critically low.
Growers of stone fruits, such as cherries and apricots, are also worried since, in their opinion, if the critically cold air temperatures last for several days in a row, it can damage some of the fruit buds of stone fruit crops, which will result in reduced yield potential of orchards.
