Milan Radisics
Beating the frost
To protect future harvest farmers on the large apricot farmlands use an old and rarely seen technique of torching to heat the open air when ground frosts endangers the fruit.
Nowadays cold nights may occur more and more later in the year. Ground frosts at dawn are common even in March, but in the last years due to climate changes they appear even in early April, when the fruit trees are blooming.
When the temperature falls a few degrees below the zero, flowers could be destroyed by the cold air. As a result, 80% of the annual fruit harvest could be damaged, this affects negatively not just the farmers families but the whole industry as well.
This year in Hungary on the 2nd of April, the temperature at the dawn was record breaking, minus 6 degrees Celsius. To protect future harvest farmers on the large apricot farmlands use a special, old and rarely seen technique of torching.
In farmlands across Hungary based on the weather forecast before the night frost arrives, farmers go out to the fields and put giant can candles, filled with liquid paraffin next to each tree, which is blooming in this period. These candles burn for 10-12 hours and heats the surrounding air. The heat and the smoke creates bubble-like microclime around the parcels, and keeps temperature above minus 0,8 degrees to protect the apricot buds from the frost. Hungary, Závod, April 2, 2020.
Story is category winner on Hungarian Press Photo 2021
Beating the frost
by
Milan Radisics
Story won First place on Hungarian Press Photo 2021
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