April surprised the fruit trees again

The winter weather conditions at the end of the past seven-day period, with snowfall in the high fields and in some places in Northern Bulgaria, caused irreparable damage to part of the fruit trees.

During most days of the following period, 21–27 April, the development of agricultural crops will proceed at a slowed pace, at temperatures below the norm for the third ten-day period of April. In the first half of the period, ground frosts are again forecast, which should be taken into account when hardening vegetable and tobacco seedlings.

The widespread precipitation at the end of the second ten-day period of April, which in many parts of the country exceeded the average norm for the period of 35–40 l/m2 (Novo Selo - 51 l/m2, Vratsa - 37 l/m2, Montana - 39 l/m2, Veliko Tarnovo - 43 l/m2, Ruse - 43 l/m2, Silistra - 40 l/m2, Dobrich - 37 l/m2, Sofia - 50 l/m2, Blagoevgrad - 41 l/m2, Elhovo - 35 l/m2), led to a substantial increase in soil moisture reserves in the 50 cm layer. These will be of exceptional importance for wheat and barley, which are undergoing moisture-critical stages – stem elongation and the transition from stem elongation to heading. At the end of the period, barley in some places in the southernmost regions will enter the beginning of the heading stage. In rapeseed, mass flowering will be observed, and in sunflower and maize – emergence and leaf formation.

The cool and humid weather at the beginning of the third ten-day period will be a prerequisite for an increase in the infectious background of a number of fungal diseases such as: early brown rot and scab in fruit trees, excoriose in vines, septoria leaf blotch in cereal crops, downy mildew in onions, etc.

During the period, in many parts of the country, conditions will be unsuitable for carrying out soil tillage and for sowing later thermophilic spring crops such as cotton, peanuts, beans, watermelons, and melons.

Source: NIMH-BAS