Poor harvest could spell dietary problems in south

Poor harvests in southern Kyrgyzstan could result in serious dietary problems, especially for children and older people, local officials warn. An increase in the price of fruit, following heavy spring rains, is likely to result in a lack of vitamins in the diet of local people, generally used to an abundance of fruit and vegetables. "If the harvest is sufficient for ourselves for the winter we will be lucky," 63-year-old Marip Kozubaev, owner of an apple farm near the southern city of Osh, told IRIN in despair. Usually he would produce four to five mt of apples, generating a good income, but now he was facing considerable losses. So serious is the problem, that according to the local department of agriculture, many farmers in the country's south were on the threshold of bankruptcy. Heavy spring rains and reoccurring frost, were the root causes of the poor harvest, which village elders said was the worst in 35 years. Fruit trees cover more than 30,000 hectares in the three provinces of Osh, Jalal-Abad and Batken. In Batken alone, the apricot harvest had dropped 75 percent over last year, local authorities said.

Children at the city's orphanage are not receiving the fruit they need

Meanwhile, fruit prices in the local markets continued to climb. Already prices for early cherries have reached US $3 per kg, while dried apricots cost more than half a dollar - four times more than last year. With most people in Osh earning US $30 per month, there were few buyers. "Our children don't have any fresh fruit in their diet," Buken Maksutbaeva, head of the city's orphanage, told IRIN, warning that the lack of vitamins could have a negative impact on children's health, especially those in orphanages. Tolon Shainazarov, the head physician in Osh's regional children's hospital, agreed. "Lack of vitamins in children's diet could result in physical and mental disorders," he told IRIN.