Stubborn drought in Ohio and the shifting weather patterns influenced by climate change appear to be affecting North America’s largest native fruit: the pawpaw.
Valerie Libbey holds a normal-sized pawpaw, left, next to a drought-affected pawpaw from her farm, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, in Washington Court House, Ohio . WASHINGTON COURT HOUSE, Ohio —
“I had walked into the orchard to do my regular irrigation and the smell of the fruit just hit me,” said Libbey, who added that this year’s harvest period was much shorter than in previous years and the fruits themselves were smaller and more bitter. That’s in line with the effects human-caused climate change is having on the Midwest according to the National Climate Change Assessment, a government report that comes out every four or five years. Last year's report said that both extreme drought and flooding were threatening crops and animal production in the region.
Chmiel said that pawpaw trees, which are generally considered low-maintenance, don't like to have their roots submerged in water for too long, which his trees experienced in 2018 and 2019 during particularly wet spring conditions.
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