Apricot Season Not Golden: Yield Dwindles, Prices Soar

[MosJan]

Apricot Season not Golden: Yield dwindles, prices soar By Gayane Mkrtchyan

ArmeniaNow reporter

The village of Jrashen in the Ararat province is surrounded by fruit-bearing orchards, predominantly apricot. Usually, agricultural work is in full swing here at this time of the year, but this June it is tranquil. http://armenianow.com/images/uploadedimages/ai228703.jpgMaybe doves would bring luck to the ill-fated apricot orchards?“There was a year when we started gathering apricots on June 15, but this year we’ve nothing to gather at all. This apricot is a matter of luck and also depends on the whims of weather,” says 35-year-old local resident Janibek Nikoghosyan. “Many of the villagers know they will have to live by borrowing until they see what happens next year.”

 

Half of the 500 households in Jrashen are engaged in apricot growing. The rest cultivate grapes and grain crops. Nikoghosyan says he gets about 15 tons a hectare if the year is good. Last year which was not favorable he received a ton of apricot from a hectare, while this year one can hardly get a dozen apricots from a tree.

 

His fellow villager, 51-year-old Margarit Harutyunyan brags that Jrashen and neighboring Kaghtrashen are known to yield the tastiest apricots in the whole province due to their sandy soil.

 

“But this year’s heavy rains prevented proper pollination. Every year we have some trouble. I won’t pick even a kilogram of apricot from my huge orchard,” she says.

 

According to the data of the Ministry of Agriculture, every year the country’s agriculture incurs a loss worth some 10-13 billion drams (about $29-37 million) because of natural calamities. The spring floods this year have already inflicted a loss of 420 million drams ($1.2 million). Rural economy specialists say 2-3 times less fruit is expected this year.

 

“The apricot yield this year will make about 15,000 tons, compared to 50,000 tons received last year. Apricot orchards in Armenia cover an area of 9,000 hectares, of which 7,500 have fruit-bearing trees, and 1,500 hectares are areas with newly planted orchards,” Garnik Petrosyan, Head of the Department of Plant-Growing and Plant Protection of the Ministry of Agriculture, says.

 

Nevertheless, farmers in the Ararat valley have no particular hopes for apricot this year. Those who do have apricot will sell at a high price.

 

Everyone in Jrashen usually looks with envy at 77-year-old Garnik Abrahamyan’s three-hectare apricot orchard. The old man says last year he received 30 tons of apricot from his plot, this year he will hardly get half that amount. Still it is more than most here.

 

“Re-sellers have already queued for apricot, especially those who export the produce. I said I would not sell at a price lower than 500 drams per kilo. Now is the year of ‘hunger’ for apricot, and we should make the best use of it.”

 

Janibek explains that the heights on which orchards are planted make the difference. Garnik’s orchards are situated lower. Apricot-trees blossomed earlier and had time for pollination before heavy rains started.

 

“The trees in my orchard blossomed a week later, and this is the result. I understood that a smart person in this village should have his orchards in several place,” he says.

 

Meanwhile, Margarit says that the best apricot sort exporters are after is shalakh (a larger, more favored variety).

 

“Trucks have already arrived to ‘reserve’ their right to buy it out. Of course, the rarely-ripening apricot is already on sale and at a rather high price. But I am so tired from these weather surprises that I’ve made up my mind to sell my orchard, especially that I am offered $25,000 for it,” she says.

 

http://armenianow.com/images/uploadedimages/ai228702.jpgYou can look, but can’t touchAccording to economist Tatul Manaseryan, the law of supply and demand should be at work here.

 

“But wild laws work in our country and prices are simply dictated, which can’t be an example of classical economy,” he says.

 

Of course, the shortage of product will result in the growth of the price, but not such a drastic one. According to him, the prices for other fruits will be artificially raised on the market.

 

Vahagn Simonyan, 28, from the village of Lusagyugh in the Armavir province, has a one-hectare watermelon garden. He says that watermelons will fill the shortage of apricot.

 

“And we, too, should use the moment and sell at a higher-than-usual price,” he says.

 

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, 8-9,000 tons of apricots are exported annually, and some 5,000 tons are purchased by processing companies. Petrosyan says that this year these figures will, of course, go down, however there will be no astronomical prices.

 

“When apricot is ripe, the village cannot wait. Even from gusty winds ripe apricot can fall, so whether they want it or not, they have to take the fruit quickly to the market.”

 

Apricot sold for between 2,500 drams (about $7) and 5,000 drams (about $14) per kilo in Yerevan in early June. Meanwhile, during the same period last year could be bought for as little as 1,000 drams (about $2).

 

Margarit Harutyunyan says that last year the wholesale price for apricot exporters was 300 drams (or about 90 cents) per kilogram. The first yield was sold to local traders for a much higher price – 800-1,000 drams (approx. $2.5-3.0). And the retail market price for apricot at the best time of the season was 250-300 drams (about 90 cents) or 400-500 drams ($1-1.5) the highest.

 

Housewives in Armenia must forget about apricot jams, stewed or dried fruits.

 

“We will hardly be able to afford to buy it twice for out kids to get the taste of it, let alone paying such a high price for apricot and then get it canned,” says 42-year-old mother-of-three Susanna Hambartsumyan.

 

But grower Garnik, who has four children and 14 grandchildren, says he won’t sell his apricots -- no matter what the price is -- until his kids have had their full share.

 

“The first yield will be until July 10. They will come and get as much as they need. A person shouldn’t ‘eat’ his work alone. I give everyone his share,” he says proudly.

 

And generally, according to Petrosyan, the market will not feel the shortage of fruits. A big harvest of peach, plum, pear, apple, nuts and grapes is expected.

 

 

[Sassun]

Apricot sold for between 2,500 drams (about $7) and 5,000 drams (about $14) per kilo in Yerevan in early June.

What??!?!??!?!?!

 

That's crazy.

 

Here in Lebanon the kilo of apricot is $1, at most $2, if there's low yield !

 

Who can afford to pay $7 for a kilo of apricot ?

 

 

 

[MosJan]

in 2004 june 16 was the first day that was sold in Yerevan - it cost me $20 a Kilo - a week after it was sold for $15 to $16 a kilo

[ExtraHye]

in 2004 june 16 was the first day that was sold in Yerevan - it cost me $20 a Kilo - a week after it was sold for $15 to $16 a kilo

I realized one thing about Armenia when I went there in 1998. They all charged me about three times more then they did to my cousins knowing that I’m not from there. I’m sure that’s why you got charged so much.

[MosJan]

wan only one person has 3 Kilos of that's how much the cost is

in 2004 Apricot harvest was not good at all - it was same as this year - big problems - in Surenavan we could not find a single TSOGOL - surenavan is one of the first to offer