Bad weather halved apple yield at "Agropodrinje" Cooperative

The "Agropodrinje" Agricultural Cooperative in Goražde has 6,000 apple trees planted on an area of 4 hectares. This year, due to bad weather conditions and heavy rainfall, the yield has been reduced, said the director of the "Agropodrinje" Cooperative, Nasiha Džaka, for the BH news agency Patria (NAP).

- During the flowering and pollination period, it rained. On the other hand, for the last three or four years, we had drought, and this year rain, and that has affected the quality and the occurrence of diseases. We harvested the early varieties and they are already on the market, but there will be no exports, even though we have demand – Džaka stated.

Apples from the "Agropodrinje" Cooperative are mostly bought by domestic stores and shopping centers, but the price is also not satisfactory. As Džaka said, last year the price of consumption apples equaled that of industrial apples. This year, they have not received a single mark for production incentives.

- The state must support production. There is no country in the world that does not invest in agriculture – Džaka said.

The next apple harvest is in October, and about 70% of the trees are of the Idared variety, with the rest being Greni Smit, Jonagold, and Golden Delicious.

- I expect a yield of about 100 tons, but it will not be of export quality. The weather conditions have almost halved the yield – says Džaka.

Otherwise, the "Agropodrinje" Cooperative was founded on May 14, 1990, and is also a recipient of the Global GAP certificate, which represents a standard for international trade norms for all agricultural products, and certification for this standard enables BH cooperatives and their cooperants to meet the demands of local, EU, and other international markets, writes Patria.