Russian Apple Harvest Due to Decrease by Almost 12%, to 1.5 Million Tons, in 2024

The Ministry of Agriculture expects that 1.5 million tons of apples will be harvested in Russia in 2024, 0.2 million tons less than in 2023, Russian Minister of Agriculture Oksana Lut said during the meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin with the government.

“Last year 1.7 million tons of apples were harvested. Every year it is increased. A target of 1.8 million tons has been set for this year. Though, unfortunately, this is the main product that has been affected by frost, so now the forecast is being lowered to 1.5 million tons (minus 11.8% year on year — Agroexpert),” the minister said.

Currently, supplies from friendly countries are being worked out, she continued, so that the consequences of the frosts do not affect the price situation. “Azerbaijan, Belarus, Serbia – a little increase can be obtained due to them. And we certainly have Iran and Turkey in reserve, which produce large volumes of apples. And we started discussing with our colleagues additional supplies of apples to Russia in the corresponding season,” said Oksana Lut.

But at the same time, there are expectations that apple production in the southern regions will increase, she added, so “we will consider the delta that we need to supply the domestic market, and we will certainly do this in advance.”

The Russian fruit and berries production will decrease due to the May frosts, which concerns primarily apples — there is a risk of losing one fifth of the harvest, since the sets and trees in the orchards have been seriously damaged.