During the second ten-day period of April, an increase in temperatures and an improvement in conditions for the development of agricultural crops are forecast

The unseasonably cold weather during the past period, with sub-zero minimum temperatures and snowfall, has caused irreparable damage to fruit trees and to rapeseed crops that had entered the flowering stage, according to agrometeorologists. Agronomists are about to carry out inspections of the farms in order to determine the damage to fruit species and other agricultural crops.

The first cold spell at the beginning of the month seriously affected apricot producers in the Silistra region. Despite the damage caused by the winter conditions in the country, the variety „Silistrenska Kompotna“ has preserved its blossoms and is expected to bear fruit.

The „Silistrenska Kompotna” apricot is a main standard variety created at the experimental station in the town of Silistra in 1964 by crossing a Hungarian apricot with the Krasnoshchekiy variety. The tree is moderately vigorous with a globular crown. Flowering is mid-late; it is a self-pollinating variety.

During the next seven-day period the agrometeorological conditions will undergo a substantial change. At the beginning of the second ten-day period of April, an increase in temperatures and an improvement in the conditions for the development of agricultural crops are forecast.

On most days of the period, the vegetation of winter cereal crops will proceed at a moderate pace, at mean daily temperatures close to the climatic norms for the second ten-day period of April.

The widespread precipitation during the first ten-day period, which in some of the field areas exceeded 40 - 50 l/m², and in places in Southern Bulgaria reached the norms for April (Plovdiv - 57 l/m², Haskovo – 58 l/m², Kardzhali – 57 l/m², Chirpan – 56 l/m²), sharply improved soil moisture reserves, which is of major importance for the normal course of the vegetation processes in winter cereal crops and sown spring crops.

At the end of the period, the stem elongation stage will be observed in a large part of the wheat stands, during which the plants increase their requirements for soil moisture. In sunflower crops sown at the beginning of spring, the emergence stage will prevail.

The expected precipitation during the period will maintain a high moisture content in the upper soil layers, which will delay sunflower sowing beyond the recommended agrotechnical timeframes.

During the second ten-day period of April, winter cereal crops must be monitored for the presence of diseases and pests: powdery mildew, septoria leaf blotch, cereal leaf beetle, wheat thrips, sunn pest, etc., and if their numbers exceed the economic threshold of harmfulness, timely treatment is required.