The cultivation of bush berries on open land was spread out over 443 hectares in 2016. According to the Bureau of Statistics, it is decreasing and the area is only 73% of the extent it had in 2012, when this kind of statistical data was first officially collected.
Blackcurrant covered the biggest area through 2014 (309 hectares or 52% of bush fruit). For economic reasons, large parts of the area were cleared after the harvest of 2015. The space shrunk from 309 to 170 hectares and has stayed stable since 2016. Blackcurrant cultivated in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is especially made for processing, none of it is sold fresh.
Seabuckthorn established itself on 194 hectares in the last year. 55 of those were harvested. Usage and possibilities are known to be versatile. Therefore, blackcurrant and seabuckthorn combined occupy 82% of bush berry cultivation area in the state. Other varieties are less popular. In 2016, there were (among others), 31 hectares of blueberries, 8 hectares of raspberries and 33 hectares black elderberry, of which berries as well as blossoms are used. Other bush berries, such as red and white currant, black raspberry and gooseberry do not play a very big role for domestic professional horticulture. Same goes for chokeberries, which are known for their healthy properties, and were cultivated on just below two hectares in 2016.
In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, there are no gooseberries being cultivated in greenhouses or underneath high, passable protective covers, which is a common practice for smaller amounts in other parts of Germany.
The organic cultivation of bush berries is mostly stable, it covered an area of 224 hectares or 55% of the overall production area in 2016. The yield of all bush berries combined was 1,345 tons in 2016 - 2.5% of the overall fruit production of 53,760 tons last year.
Source: laiv-mv