After a harsh winter, pear producers in the Republic of Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, are expecting above average yields this season.
More than 3.000 hectares of pears have been planted in the Republic of Srpska and the Federation of BiH. The most important varieties grown in the region are Williams, Santa Maria, Abate Fettel, and more recently, the Conference and Carmen.
Producers have now recovered from the Russian embargo which was issued right before the start of the 2016 season, on 12 August, 2016 and ended up lasting much longer than expected, for a total of 10 weeks. It had been issued after the Russian Federal Phytosanitary Service "Roseljhoznadzor" stated that the phytosanitary certificates and seals in Bosnia & Herzegovina were inadequate and could be easily obtained by anyone.
The Russian ban had added insult to injury for growers, who had been hit by late April frosts in the Republic of Srpska (part of Bosnia and Herzegovina) earlier during the 2016 season, which caused damage to about 1,100 hectares of fruit plantations, and early vegetables. At the time, damages were estimated up to 60% -90%. The frosts had an especially big impact on fruits such as plums, apples and pears.
Pear producers whose crops had been damaged by the 2016 frost, were compensated €230 euros per hectare by the Ministry of Agriculture for the Republic of Srpska.
The value of pear exports in 2016 amounted to 7.2 million euros (9,673 tons), which accounts for 8% of Bosnia and Herzegovina's total fruit exports.
A majority of pear production, 91%, was exported to Russia and growers expect this to continue into this season, as long as everything goes as expected.
