Prolonged rains have damaged apple orchards in Azerbaijan’s Quba district, forcing farmers to sell their harvest to processing plants at just 6-7 qapiks per kilogram, local growers told Report’s northern bureau.
Apple cultivation is one of the region’s key agricultural sectors. However, due to the continuous rainfall, harvesting has slowed sharply, and many fruits have developed visible spots – lowering demand and market prices.
Despite the farmers’ claims, officials from the Quba State Center for Agrarian Development rejected the idea that the damage was caused by rainfall.
“The appearance of spots is not linked to rain but to insufficient care and untimely treatment of the trees,” said Tarverdi Ismayilov, head of the center’s department. “There is no reason to attribute this to natural phenomena.”
According to official data, cited by Report, the total area of apple orchards in the Quba district has shrunk from over 7,000 to 6,200 hectares this year, as many farmers are switching to cherries and other fruit crops.
