Germany: 37.6 percent more shrub berries in 2017

As reported by Information und Technik Nordrhein-Westfalen -the official statistics office of the region- on the basis of final results of the shrub berry survey, the harvest volume was 37.6 percent higher than in 2016. The main reason for this was the expansion of the acreage by 17.2 percent.

With a cultivated area of 766 hectares, shrub berries in North Rhine-Westphalia were cultivated mainly outdoors in the past year. The most cultivated species remained the blueberry, whose cultivated area (281 hectares) accounts for more than a third (36.7 percent) of the total open space for shrub berries. This was followed by red and white currants (198 hectares) and blackcurrants (116 hectares).

Approximately one third of the shrub berries harvested in the field were red or white currants (33.9 percent, 1,662 tons) and blueberries (32.7 percent, 1,602 tons).

According to the statisticians, berries were cultivated on 129 hectares under high, walk-in protective covers or in greenhouses. Raspberries (103 hectares) were predominantly produced there. A total of 1,768 tons of shrub berries were produced, including 1,402 tons of raspberries.

Source: Proplanta