Bulgaria expects good 2013 grape vintage
The 2013 grape crop in Bulgaria is expected to be of excellent quality, with a yield of about 250 000 to 260 000 tons countrywide, according to the Institute of Viticulture and Oenology at the Agricultural Academy.
The average output is expected to add up to 8000 to 10 000 kg of grapes a hectare, about 20 to 30 per cent more than in 2012.
However, the institute cautioned that while Bulgaria’s 2013 grape crop would be of high quality, purchase prices would be low, at about 50 to 60 stotinki (25 to 30 euro cents) a kilogram for wine grape varieties and a lev (50 euro cents) a kg for table grapes. Another gloomy note was that Bulgaria had shed its place in the world table grape market, according to the institute.
The harvest of dessert varieties was underway and output was expected to be 20 to 30 per cent higher than in 2012. The harvest period had come earlier in 2013 because of the lack of frost in winter, rainfall in June and early July and the warmer weather in August, the Agricultural Academy said.
(Photo: David Hart/sxc.hu)
