Published
12/02/2024, 11:30About 260 thousand tonnes of fruit and berry products are harvested annually in the republic. Most of them are apples.
According to the Ministry of Water Resources, Agriculture and Processing Industry, most of the fruit and berry products harvested annually in the country are apples (62% of the total fruit and berry harvest in 2023).
Issyk-Kul oblast (25.4 %), Osh oblast (24.5 %), Jalal-Abad oblast (14.6 %), Chui oblast (13.5 %), Batken oblast (11.9 %) and Talas oblast (9.5 %) lead in apple cultivation.
In 2023, Kyrgyzstan exported 1.5 thousand tonnes of dried apples.
Exporting countries of dried apples from Kyrgyzstan are Germany (904.7 tonnes), Turkey (307.7 tonnes), Russia (234 tonnes), Kazakhstan (56.4 tonnes), USA (1.2 tonnes) and Japan (0.5 tonnes).
In 9 months of 2024, Kyrgyzstan exported 1.1 thousand tonnes of dried apples. The exporting countries of dried apples from Kyrgyzstan are Germany (513.6 tonnes), Turkey (332.2 tonnes), Russia (225 tonnes), Kazakhstan (28.3 tonnes), and Japan (0.3 tonnes).
Dried apples are also exported mixed with other dried fruits. In 2023, a small amount of dried fruit was exported to Bahrain, Qatar, Korea, and Japan.
Today's method of drying apples has adapted to the demands of the times, and dried apples are used more as a ‘snack’ than as an ingredient. During the drying process, apples retain almost the entire vitamin and mineral complex inherent in fresh fruit. Moreover, the concentration of vitamins and minerals in the product increases several times. Dried apples contain B vitamins, C vitamins, potassium, calcium, iron, phosphorus, antioxidants, dietary fibre, pectin.
