Saving rare varieties

Apple crisis due to climate change with heat and frost

The steady advance of global warming is endangering fruit cultivation. (symbolic image)

(Bild: stock.adobe.com/BIB-Bilder - stock.adobe.com)

Friday is "Apple Day". Taking this as an opportunity, the saviors of rare varieties in "Noah's Ark" warn that the advancing global warming is endangering fruit cultivation.

"The number of days with late frosts in spring will decrease. However, the risk of frost damage will increase due to the expected earlier start of vegetation," warn the authors of the study, Christian Holler from the engineering firm of the same name, Andreas Spornberger (Institute for Wine and Fruit Cultivation at the Vienna University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences) and Martin Engelmeier (Arge Streuobst): "In summer, the lack of water availability in particular can then become a problem."

Fruit grower Veronika Harm had a rich apple harvest this year, including juice.

(Bild: Antal Imre/Imre Antal)

The experts' greatest concern, which is also shared by "Noah's Ark" activist Bernd Kajtna in Schiltern (Lower Austria): Some orchards and fruit plantations are rooted in the so-called molasse zone.

(Bild: stock.adobe.com/stock.adobe.com, Krone KREATIV)

The crux of these geologically special conditions: Water-rich gravel subsoil does not necessarily dominate there. It is (eco)logical that even robust stems are increasingly struggling against the drought. Lower altitudes in particular will therefore suffer from heat and drought stress. The scientists have meticulously analyzed the climate data for three model regions in particular: Precisely for the Amstetten Süd region in the Lower Austrian Mostviertel, for the Pöllauer Tal Nature Park on the border with the eastern Styrian dessert fruit region and for the Lungau as an inner-Alpine Salzburg high valley, where currently orcharding is hardly relevant.

I look after around 160 fruit trees, all of which are rarities from my farming ancestors. These ancient varieties are adapted to the microclimate and defy global warming well.

Obstanbaupionier, Altlandwirt und Exbürgermeister Anton Gonaus aus Kirchberg an der Pielach (Niederösterreich)

Conclusion: The picking of apples, which are healthy in so many ways (many important minerals, iron and low in fat, see graphic above), is coming under increasing pressure due to climate change and will even intensify. The prospects for orchards are therefore anything but rosy. Worse still, the climate crisis and changing conditions (plus three degrees Celsius) are calling into question the continuation of our current fruit cultivation.

The only ray of hope: It is possible that the cooler Alpine region could be a future cultivation area. What the data ruthlessly reveals: The climate favorable for fruit growing is shifting to much higher altitudes. Organic farmers are trying to defy the great apple decline with ancient varieties that are adapted to the respective weather conditions.

Gewaltiger Schaden

Massive Einbußen durch späte Fröste

More than 5000 species of animals, plants and fungi find refuge in a typical meadow orchard. The benefits of these special biotopes for all of us: pollination, hay, wood and honey as well as drinking water and flood protection and also carbon sequestration and improvement of the local climate. "Only if we limit global warming to below plus two degrees Celsius will there be a future for orchards in Austria. The existing potential of fruit species and varieties must be viewed, used and adapted to the needs of today. Only in this way can fruit continue to offer ecological diversity of taste in the future," warns "Arche Noah" activist Axel Grunt.

Freezing rain in spring, drought in summer ...

(Bild: Jauschowetz Christian/Christian Jauschowetz)

... and the apple harvest is mixed.

(Bild: LWK/PHILIPP)

In the meantime, our apple growers have been battling against particularly capricious weather this year. A very mild January, the warmest February and the hottest March in Austria's 257-year measuring history were followed by extreme cooling. In combination with vegetation that was on average three weeks earlier than usual, a cold air blast in mid-April led to severe damage in fruit growing. Stone fruit, such as apricots and cherries, was particularly affected, but also pome fruit such as apples and pears.

Facts and figures

• Orchards in Austria have been in sharp decline for decades - from around 35 million trees in 1930 to around 4.2 million in 2020.
• 725,000 trees of different varieties provide 30,000 tons of fruit in the Mostviertel (Lower Austria).
• Styria has the largest apple-growing area in Austria with just under 6,000 hectares. The annual harvest amounts to 200,000 tons.
• Temperatures of plus three degrees are putting harvests at risk, even in favorable locations.
• Regions that were previously only suitable for cultivation to a limited extent, on the other hand, are likely to benefit - provided the warming remains limited to below plus two degrees Celsius.

"Could be just a foretaste"
"In total, the overall damage caused by this year's frost event amounts to 44 million euros in fruit growing and twelve million euros in viticulture," says hail insurance boss Dr. Kurt Weinberger. In order to ward off the threat of the late night frosts from the trees, which were already in full bloom, groves were sprayed with a protective and freezing layer of water. Despite this frost sprinkling, there were - according to the AMA - significant losses of up to 70 percent in some regions. Grunt: "This could be just a foretaste!"