A third of the crop is gone. Night frosts threatened the strawberry crop

Night frosts this week destroyed roughly a third of the strawberry fields that Jan Dostál and his family cultivate in Olomouc, Prostějovsk and Brno. Due to lower strawberry yields, farmers will have to raise prices for self-harvesting of this popular fruit in order to maintain the profitability of plantation operations. Thanks to the early arrival of spring, the strawberry harvest will begin in mid-May, which is two to three weeks earlier than usual, Dostál said today.

The Dostálov family farms six hectares of strawberries in Olomouc, approximately 5.5 hectares in Prostějov and more than 13 hectares in Brno. The workers covered part of the areas with blooming strawberries with fabric before the arrival of frosty weather, and as a result, the damage is only around ten percent, which according to Dostál is not terrible. “For uncovered early varieties in full bloom, however, the damage is 90 to 100 percent. For later varieties that are just beginning to flower, about 40 to 50 percent of the areas will be damaged there. Then we have one more July variety and it’s no problem there because it doesn’t bloom yet. When we summed it up for all our strawberry farms, we lost about a third of the harvest,” stated Dostál.

According to Dostál, April frosts have been frequent in recent years, and strawberry plants are usually not harmed by the cold weather because they have not yet bloomed. This year, however, the first flowers on the strawberry plantations appeared three weeks early due to the early arrival of spring weather, and the frost destroyed them this week. Strawberry plantations in Olomouc, Prostějov and Brno will increase prices for self-picking this year. Last year, people paid 75 crowns for a kilogram of strawberries, this year the price will be around 80 crowns. The decision on the amount of the price for self-harvest will be made before the harvest. “We haven’t raised the price for three years. Last year we still managed to keep it thanks to nature. This year we will have to raise the price,” pointed out Dostál

The prices of self-harvested strawberries are significantly lower than imported strawberries on supermarket shelves. On the plantations in Olomouc, Prostějov and Brno, the fruits are not contaminated with clay, because they lie on straw bedding. Growers minimize the use of chemicals.

According to fruit growers’ estimates, this year’s frosts have caused damage to crops worth more than a billion crowns in the Czech Republic and threaten the existence of approximately 500 fruit growers.