The season for haskap berries is still a few months away, but already some growers are worried for a repeat of last season. Not only was the season super-short, but a percentage of the crops were also damaged by severe spring frosts. The new haskap season will hopefully be a bit longer than the previous one. According to Anna Litwin, owner of BlueHaskap, most of it depends on the spring frosts. “Last year the season already started in May, and we sustained a lot of damages. The season only lasted for about 2 to 2.5 weeks, which was extremely short. Currently the weather in Poland Is beautiful, the growing of the leaves on the bushes has already started. Now if all stays as it is, it could be a great season. However, I fear we will get another extreme frost in the middle of April or the beginning of May. The damages were the reason we had such low quantities available in the previous season.” Besides the risk of damages, it’s also important that the temperature stays above the freezing point for a bit longer. “We need the bees to pollinate, and bees will not do this if the temperature dips even slightly below 0 degrees Celsius. So hopefully the cold days will pass our plantations, and will show up as late as possible, to give the bees a chance to do their jobs. If last season’s circumstances repeat and we have to deal with the second season of frost, it will be challenging for growers without a back-up plan. For me, I also deal with other fruits, like blueberries and apples, to keep myself afloat if this happens.” Another way to get some more value out of a low production would be to use the raw berries for processing. “Demand for fresh haskap berries is already quite low. Retailers and importers don’t really know the haskap berries and until somebody takes a chance it’s hard to sell them all. To counter this we’ve had to make sure we also offer processed haskap berries, by using it for jams and juices, or even freeze and freeze-dried berries. It helps to add value to the berries for our business.” Litwin explains. Litwin is also scared some of the growers might run into trouble when the summer hits. “The weather is slightly better this year around, but when during June and July, water will be scarce as it always is in Poland during that period. By that I mean we’ll hardly have any rain and growers will have to use good irrigation systems to keep the crops healthy. I know quite a few growers who do not own such a system, so there will be challenges ahead for these growers. Climate change is really noticeable in the Polish berry industry.” Litwin concludes. Source - https://www.freshplaza.com