Fruit farmers Thüringen expect average apple harvest

The commercial fruit growers in Thüringen, a German state in the centre of the country, started with the apple harvest and expect a harvest of 29.9 metric tons per hectare. That means that the surface yield is 25% below the record yield of the previous year of 40.1 metric tons per hectare. However the yield is equal to the average over the years 2009/2014 which was 29.9 metric tons per hectare. The surface used for the cultivation of apples decreased by 5 hectares (-0.4%) to 1062 hectares states the Thüringen Statistical Office. The first calculations expect that the harvest will be 31,700 metric tons of apples, about a quarter (26%) lower than 2014 (42,700 metric tons).

 

Pears are cultivated on 15 hectares in Thüringen and the fruit growers count on a yield that is 10.4 metric tons and that is higher than last year (2014: 6.9 metric tons, average 2009/2014: 10,3 metric tons). The harvest should amount to 151 metric tons (2014: 125 metric tons, average 2009/2014: 213 metric tons).

The harvest of sweet cherries reached 7.4 metric tons per hectare. This is equal to the harvest of the previous year and 22% above the average of the years 2009/2014 (6.1 metric tons per hectare). The surface used for the cultivation of sweet cherries increased to 248 hectare (6%). The total harvest was 1800 metric tons of sweet cherries (2014: 1700 metric tons).

The harvest of sour cherries reached 13.1 metric tons per hectare. The harvest exceeded the yield of the previous year (11.6 metric tons per hectare) with 12% and 39% higher than the average of the 2009/2014 (9.4 metric tons per hectare).

The surface used for the cultivation of sour cherries decreased by 47 hectares (-19%). That is 61% of the long-term average of 2009/2014 (334 hectare) production surface. 

With 205 hectares the total harvest of 2015 is calculated at 2700 metric tons. 98% of the harvest is processed and 2% reaches the consumer fresh off the trees.

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