The first Lithuanian-grown strawberries of the year are being harvested in greenhouses, marking the start of the 2025 strawberry season, though cooler spring weather is keeping yields low and prices high.
In Anykščiai, growers at the Anykščių Daržovės farm began picking strawberries in early May – about a week earlier than last year – with heated greenhouses producing about a ton of berries per day.
"Each plant has its own irrigation system," said farm manager Paulius Andriejavas. "We lower the temperature at night to stimulate sugar production and ripening. During the day, we raise it to 16 degrees Celsius and reduce it to 8 at night. We grow year-round and harvest two crops per season."
Strawberries are also ripening earlier than usual in northern Lithuania. Farmers in the Joniškis district say they rely exclusively on greenhouses due to increasingly unpredictable spring weather.
Read more at LRT