Hazelnuts: harvest activities are spreading throughout the country
August 31, 2017 at 7:11 AM ,
Starry Night Ltd.
SOFIA. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, farmers harvested 496 ha of hazelnut bushes in 2015 while in 2016, they did 544 ha. The difference is small since the year was weak and although many farmers collected the crop from bushes, not all kernels were fully matured and thus marketable; the rest was too dry and moldy to reach the market.
Hazelnuts: weather has always been a defining factor
Usually, hazelnuts fare through adverse weather conditions much better than their counterpart - the walnuts do. Yet, when a bad year hits, it rarely misses. For instance, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, the average yield in 2015 was estimated at 728 kg/ha while that of 2016 reached 410 kg/ha. The difference is close to 44% in favor of year 2015, but season 2016-17 was a disaster for all locally grown nuts.
To further back up the claim of the weather as the major factor that distinguishes a successful season from an unsuccessful one, the Ministry of Agriculture provides further data on output for the two consecutive years. For season 2015-16, farmers collected 361 mt of in shell hazelnuts while for season 2016-17, their harvest was estimated at 223 mt. However, one must be cautious with the latter number because, according to local farmers, who have been in the business for years, the high quality kernels that actually reached the market last season could have been three times lower. All the rest must have been discounted as a loss!
Fresh from the oven
Currently, owners of smaller orchards are setting a price for conventional hazelnuts in shell of 2.68 EUR/kg EXW while prices for organic in shell are set at 3.75 EUR/kg EXW. Such small quantities will be quickly rolled out on the local market. Prices will change when the bigger orchard owners enter the market later in the season.
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