A study of uzbekistan fruits and vegetables

3. Problems of fruit and vegetable exports of Uzbekistan

Weather surprises in early spring for the second year in a row caused serious damage to the harvest of stone fruits, but unlike the previous year, only a few types of stone fruits suffered losses – almonds, apricots, and cherries. As for the harvest of other types of fruits, these anomalies bypassed them. As a result, prices for almonds, apricots, and cherries were high, while exports were low. At the same time, the harvest of many types of fruits was high, reducing prices and enabling record exports to be achieved.

The summer of 2022 brought another unpleasant surprise to the agricultural producers of the Central Asian countries – the intense heat “inflated” the price of tomatoes and caused a deterioration in the quality of apples, the harvest of which was a record high this year. Moreover, a disappointing forecast that such abnormally hot weather in Central Asia is becoming the new normal was published by climatologists. In 2022, we witnessed a “carrot bubble”, although EastFruit analysts warned market participants about this. At the same time, carrots gave way to the leadership of onions, and Uzbek onion producers made good money this year. In addition, cabbage was trending again, and Uzbekistan updated records in terms of export volumes of all major types of cabbage. Potatoes and bananas remain the largest imports of Uzbekistan in the fruit and vegetable segment. EastFruit analysts expect a decrease in the volume of imports of commercial potatoes for the first time in the last few years, as well as a slowdown in the growth rate of banana consumption. In the context of the changed geopolitical situation in the world, Uzbekistan has stepped up efforts to find alternative routes and diversify international transport corridors for obvious reasons. The first results were not long in coming. In addition, the state seriously took up the problem of groundwater protection in December 2022, which EastFruit experts have repeatedly drawn attention to. Weather surprises in early spring for the second year in a row caused serious damage to the harvest of stone fruits, but unlike the previous year, only a few types of stone fruits suffered losses – almonds, apricots, and cherries. As for the harvest of other types of fruits, these anomalies bypassed them. As a result, prices for almonds, apricots, and cherries were high, while exports were low. At the same time, the harvest of many types of fruits was high, reducing prices and enabling record exports to be achieved. The summer of 2022 brought another unpleasant surprise to the agricultural producers of the Central Asian countries – the intense heat “inflated” the price of tomatoes and caused a deterioration in the quality of apples, the harvest of which was a record high this year. Moreover, a disappointing forecast that such abnormally hot weather in Central Asia is becoming the new normal was published by climatologists.

In 2022, we witnessed a “carrot bubble”, although EastFruit analysts warned market participants about this. At the same time, carrots gave way to the leadership of onions, and Uzbek onion producers made good money this year. In addition, cabbage was trending again, and Uzbekistan updated records in terms of export volumes of all major types of cabbage.
Potatoes and bananas remain the largest imports of Uzbekistan in the fruit and vegetable segment. EastFruit analysts expect a decrease in the volume of imports of commercial potatoes for the first time in the last few years, as well as a slowdown in the growth rate of banana consumption.
In the context of the changed geopolitical situation in the world, Uzbekistan has stepped up efforts to find alternative routes and diversify international transport corridors for obvious reasons. The first results were not long in coming. In addition, the state seriously took up the problem of groundwater protection in December 2022, which EastFruit experts have repeatedly drawn attention to.