Spain's Agricultural and Food Cooperatives stated that they expected the country's apple production would fall by 23% and pear production by 17% because of the rains and hail in spring.
According to the estimates presented in Prognosfruit 2022, Europe's (UE+UK) apple production will be similar to that of last year, while pear production will recover after the decline of the previous harvest.
According to forecasts, Europe will produce 12,167,887 tons of apples,i.e. 1% more than last year and 9% more than the average for the last three marketing years. By variety, the Golden Delicious is expected to decrease by 5% (2.06 million tons), Gala will increase by 2% (1.61 million tons); Idared will decrease by 10% and Red Delicious should grow by 3% to 697,108 tons. As a result of the variety diversification, increases are also expected for the Cripps Pink, Elsar, Pinova, Red Jonaprince, and other new club varieties."
"Spain - as well as Hungary and Portugal - is breaking the general European trend. Apple production will stand at 430,944 tons and will be 16% below the average for the last three marketing years. Golden apples continue to be the main varieties harvested, accounting for 43% of the total, followed by Gala apples, with 20% of the total."
"According to forecasts, Europe (EU+ the UK) will produce 2,077,000 tons of pears in 2022, i.e. 20% more volume than last year (which set a record downwards) and 5% more than the average of the last three years. This significant increase is mainly due to the recovery of production levels in Italy and France, which will produce 473,690 and 137,000 tons, respectively. Production will be led by the Conference variety, which is expected to have a 7% increase and stand at 934,532 tons, followed by the William pear, which will grow by 69% (237,009 tons)".
In addition, "Spain - like Portugal - follows an inverse trend as its harvest decreased by 17%, both when compared to last year and to the average of the last three years, with 255,611 tons."
"Apple and pear production in the Ebro Valley has experienced a strong decrease due to the frosts in spring, which will affect their quality and caliber, and by the high summer temperatures that can cause fruit burns, especially in pears."
"In Murcia, the rains in March and April caused difficulties in the setting and poor pollination, which will also trigger a significant loss of harvest compared to the previous campaign. The strong hail in April also affected much of the production, leaving a percentage of production unfit for marketing."
Source: agro-alimentarias.coop