Dancing with the bullseye: how to save a record harvest of fruit crops

Record apple harvests are being counted in Russian regions this year. Since the beginning of 2025, gardeners of the Lipetsk region have harvested 73 thousand tons of apples, which was the second result in the last ten years. The volume of harvested fruits in the Krasnodar Territory is expected to reach 500 thousand tons. The record number of apples harvested (20 thousand tons) is reported in the Tambov region. Now farmers face an equally important task — to preserve the harvest and reduce losses during storage, so that fresh fruits will delight customers this winter. How this problem is solved by modern methods is described in the Izvestia article.

Setting the table

The fact that 2.1 million tons of fruits and berries are planned to be harvested in Russia in 2025, which exceeds the figures of last year (1.9 million tons), was previously announced by the Minister of Agriculture of the Russian Federation Oksana Lut. According to her, for this, the emphasis is on intensive and super intensive cultivation. There will be more support for orchards and farms using these technologies, including in order to achieve full self-sufficiency in apples within three years, the head of the department noted.

Ripe apples will be put on store shelves and tables of Russians not only by farmers' records and a threefold increase in fruit plantations over the past 10 years, but also by modern technologies, including solutions that are not obvious at first glance, such as using polymer containers designed to replace outdated fruit storage methods.

Wooden crates of various types and sizes have been used for harvesting and transporting crops for many years. But the development of fruit harvesting technologies against the background of growing sales of agricultural products has shown that they no longer meet the challenges of the industry. Wooden containers are poorly compatible with automated equipment, which is becoming more and more common in agriculture, they break down faster and do not provide sufficient ventilation for fruits. A rough inner surface may cause the fruit to lose its marketable appearance.

Help is coming

Help came from an unexpected source, the petrochemical industry. The Russian business has developed large-sized polymer containers with a capacity of 325 kg. Today, they are used by all the leading agricultural enterprises in Russia to collect and move apples to the warehouse. In just a few years, the new packaging has managed to become an industry standard, which is gradually spreading not only to apples, but also to other types of fruits and vegetables. This is confirmed by the data of scientists.

Head of the Department of Technical Systems in Agribusiness at St. Petersburg State Agrarian University (SPbSAU) Vyacheslav Ruzhiev presented research results at the YUGAGRO 2025 International Agricultural Exhibition, which showed a significant improvement in fruit storage conditions when using plastic containers in comparison with traditional options. In the course of scientific research, in particular, it was found that pathogenic bacteria persist in wooden containers, negatively affecting the safety of crops.

Polymer containers created in Russia make it possible to better protect fruits. Traditionally, wooden crates were used in our country. According to the information announced at YUGAGRO 2025, today more than 50% of the gross apple harvest is stored and transported in plastic containers. Farmers have already appreciated its advantages: It is lighter, stronger, and has a service life of up to 15 years.

According to Sergey Luxuriant, Director of SIBUR's Agroindustrial Complex division, the development of polymer containers for storing and transporting apples has been carried out for several years by SIBUR together with Ai-Plast, a polymer packaging company, Kazachiy Khutor, one of Russia's largest apple producers, and Stroymash. Containers have demonstrated high strength, resistance to temperature fluctuations, and compatibility with automated storage systems in the field.

— For more than ten years, the mass introduction of polymer containers has confirmed its effectiveness. This is an absolutely working product that allows farms to maintain product quality for almost a whole year," Irina Fedusiv, Deputy Sales Director for Agro—Industrial Complex at Ai-Plast, said at a round table at YUGAGRO 2025.

Food security

10 years ago, Russia imported about half of all apples from abroad, and by the end of 2023 this figure has decreased to 20%. A significant increase in domestic production opens up prospects for increased processing and export of apples. At the same time, the high rates of import substitution have exposed the lack of infrastructure for storing fruit products, especially against the background of high yields in recent years.

Polymer containers, among other things, can avoid significant losses in overstocked warehouses. Ventilation holes allow apples to "breathe", preventing fruit spoilage due to excessive accumulation of moisture and carbon dioxide. Due to this, apple storage losses today do not exceed 1-3%. For retail, this means billions of rubles in savings.

Due to the fact that plastic does not absorb moisture and does not deform under the influence of the environment, such boxes retain their original dimensions. Therefore, they can be safely stacked up to 12 pieces in height without the risk of falling and injuring workers. The cost of maintaining and maintaining plastic containers (sanitation, repair, replacement, empty logistics, etc.) is 30% less than that of wooden containers.

By the way, the lower weight (30-33 kg) compared to the traditional one (65 kg) reduces the amount of emissions into the atmosphere during truck transportation and allows you to use fewer personnel during loading and unloading. The stable weight also prevents errors in weighing the harvested apples in the container.