Azerbaijan faces risk of losing fruit harvest
By Nazrin Gadimova
Azerbaijan is faced with the risk of losing fruit harvest due to the sharp deterioration in weather conditions.
The Agriculture Ministry has yet to estimate the damage caused by the abnormal fall in weather temperature.
Spokesman of the Ministry Murtuzali Hajiyev said the intense fall-out will have a positive affect on the production of crops, because this area of agriculture is in the phase that requires a lot of water and moisture.
"Yesterday's [March 30] wind and snow almost killed the growing fruits, especially stone fruit and berry crops, many of which have already flourished," he noted. "We have started our consultations with farmers and encouraged them to take additional agronomic measures which will restore the production of these fruits."
Azerbaijan, which is considered a "green country", expects the first vegetables in the last ten days of April or the first ten days of May.
"Fortunately, extreme weather conditions did not affect them, as preparations for the growing vegetable are underway," Hajiyev stressed.
He also said the unpleasant weather mostly affected farms in the northern and western regions of the country.
"I would like to underscore that weather conditions will not affect the volume of fruit production, as additional agronomic measures will result in the projected volume of the harvest," he said.
Azerbaijan was hit by an unexpected snowstorm on March 30. Residents the capital and other regions of the country experienced a cold weather after a snowstorm swept their cities in a short span of time, causing many difficulties, including power outages.
The snow depth reached 42 cm in Gakh, 30 cm in Khinalig, 26cm in Kishchay, 22cm in Dashkesen and Goygol, 21cm in Ordubad, 18cm in Guba, 16cm in Lerik, 14cm in Yardymli, 12cm in Sheki, and 10cm in Nakchivan.
Air temperature was six degrees below the norm on this day.