Apple and pear harvest likely down by one-fifth
The chilly and rainy spring and summer months have not been kind to Flanders’ fruit harvest, with apples suffering the greatest losses
Pride of Limburg
The low point was 23 June, when heavy rain caused severe damage in orchards in the main growing areas in Flemish Brabant and southern Limburg. An estimated 18% of the apple growing area was damaged, and 11% of the area under pears.
Boerenbond’s figures, compiled with the union of Belgian horticultural co-operatives, place the estimate for the total apple harvest at 234 million kilograms, and pears at 332 million kg. Despite the damage in June, pear growing grew by 351 hectares as demand grew for the fruit, even with the ongoing Russian boycott. Efforts to compensate for the boycott by finding new markets for Belgian Conference pears have been successful.
The same cannot be said for apples: the total area planted with apple trees fell by 374 hectares to 6,491ha. Boerenbond said it hoped the reduced harvest would have the effect of increased prices for the grower, depending on whether shops and customers show a preference for home-grown fruit.
Belgium’s 234,000 tonnes of apples this year will be competing against 12 million tonnes of product from other EU countries. For pears, the situation is slightly better: 332,000 tonnes from a European total of 2.2 million tonnes.
Photo courtesy Vilt
