Fruit and vegitable growing in uzbekistan

FRUIT AND VEGITABLE GROWING IN UZBEKISTAN
Like 2020, this year turned out to be difficult for the fruit and vegetable sector of the country, especially for the fruit business. Weather anomalies in winter and frosts in early spring severely damaged the harvest of many stone fruits. As a result, their prices were high, leading to a decrease in export volumes and domestic consumption.
But vegetable growers are unlikely to complain: pricey carrots, record-high cabbage, beet and onion prices helped them earn good money with the growth of export volumes. Also, Uzbekistan attracted great attention to the record volume of its potato imports, becoming one of the global leaders in it.
We also noted new interesting trends in the exports of fruit and vegetables, the adoption of a large-scale program to support the country’s fruit and vegetable industry, the continuing problems of the greenhouse business and the active expansion of foreign retailers into the vacant market of Uzbekistan. Do not forget about niche crops and new opportunities, especially in the context of record high berry prices!
Since the material is large, the EastFruit experts divided it into two parts. The first part includes the TOP-5 events and the second part will include another 5 important events.

1. 
   Weather anomalies in winter and early spring
   

Undoubtedly, the weather anomalies became the greatest event that influenced all the aspects of vegetable, fruit and nut production in Uzbekistan, trade and processing, and, of course, consumers.
Starting from the first month of 2021, the weather presented unpleasant surprises for growers in Uzbekistan. The unusually warm weather at the end of January caused a too early awakening of nature – almonds, apricots and cherries blossomed in the southern and central part of Uzbekistan in the 2-4 weeks of February. This was the first weather surprise that did not bode well, since the average temperature throughout the year is relatively constant. In other words, such anomalous warming increased the likelihood of a sharp cold snap or frost at the beginning of spring.
The next surprise was not long in coming – a cold anticyclone from the Volga region at the end of February. It was +26 in the afternoon and +18 at night in the capital of Uzbekistan at the peak of blooming of stone fruits (February 15-20), but in just a week the air temperatures dropped to -5 in the afternoon and -9 at night. This weather lasted 2-3 days, and it was enough to ruin the flowers on the trees. EastFruit surveyed experienced farmers from different regions of the country and published preliminary estimates of the damage from these frosts.
The third surprise and the second frost occurred after two weeks of warming since the first frost in late February. On March 13, a new cold cyclone came from the north. On March 14, the air temperature dropped sharply throughout the country, with the exception of the Fergana Valley. In Karakalpakstan, Khorezm, some areas of Navoi and Samarkand regions, snowfall and strong wind even caused damage to power lines. As a result, the stone fruit harvest in the central and middle zone of the country was again hit by the second frost. Uzbek EastFruit team re-conducted the survey to assess the damage to future harvests of stone fruit and almonds. This time, all regions were covered and more than 30 farmers from different regions of Uzbekistan were interviewed, which together form 95% of the total production of fruits and berries in the republic. Estimates of losses of apricots, cherries, peaches, plums and almonds by regions of the country were published at the end of March 2021.
After the frost, growers often began to contact us with a request to share the global experience in frost protection. Therefore, we have prepared a substantial material “How to protect your orchards and vineyards from frosts? Protection methods, effectiveness, cost and availability” and even found suppliers of these solutions.

2.