Pawpaw Fruits Hit by Extreme Weather, Climate Change Blamed

The severe drought that has been plaguing Ohio, along with shifting climate patterns, is taking a toll on North America's largest native fruit, the pawpaw.

Often described in taste as a blend of mango and banana, this avocado-sized fruit enjoys a faithful following, yet remains a rarity in grocery stores due to its fleeting shelf life.

Stretching from Ontario to South Florida, pawpaw trees thrive along the East Coast.

However, in regions like Ohio—home to an annual pawpaw festival—and Kentucky, growers are noting some alarming changes this season: earlier-than-usual harvests and a pronounced bitterness in the fruit, likely linked to erratic weather that includes spring freezes and persistent drought.

Valerie Libbey, who manages an orchard in Washington Court House, Ohio, has observed these shifts firsthand. With 100 pawpaw trees, she was alarmed to see fruit falling from the branches in early August, a full month ahead of the typical mid-September harvest.

"The smell of the fruit hit me as I walked in to do my irrigation," she said, noting that this year's crop was not only smaller but also less flavorsome.

Libbey attributes these changes to heat stress, though the interplay between prolonged drought and increasingly unpredictable weather patterns remains uncertain.

"We're just having to adapt to more extreme weather events," she said, reflecting on last year's late spring freezes that devastated blossoms.

Kirk Pomper, a horticulture professor at Kentucky State University, echoed these sentiments, noting that flowering patterns have shifted to occur earlier in the season due to changing weather.

This trend aligns with findings from the National Climate Change Assessment, which indicates that both extreme drought and flooding are threatening agriculture across the Midwest.

In Albany, Ohio, farmer Chris Chmiel has witnessed the impact of these climatic fluctuations firsthand. Once tending to several hundred pawpaw trees, he has seen his numbers dwindle to about 100, mainly due to erratic weather that swings from excessive moisture to severe drought.

"Pawpaw trees don't tolerate prolonged saturation well," he explained, referring to the waterlogged conditions of 2018 and 2019 that severely affected his orchard.

Chmiel's older trees, which are more vulnerable to stress, have also been plagued by invasive beetles attracted to the ethanol they produce when under duress.

Historically, pawpaw trees were domesticated by Native American tribes and have long supplemented local diets.

As they grapple with climate change and invasive threats, growers like Chmiel and Libbey still hold on to the hope that the native resilience of the pawpaw will endure in the face of an uncertain future.

This article includes additional reporting from The Associated Press