The Hungarian plum harvest is expected to reach 60,000-65,000 tons this year, which is slightly above average, Ferenc Apáti, the vice president of fruit and vegetable growing association FruitVeB, told news agency MTI.
Plums are cultivated on 6,600 hectares, but bad weather in the spring reduced the potential harvest, wh
ile storm damage in June reduced the quality. The annual harvest has been between 50,000 and 80,000 tonnes in recent years, with an average production of around 8-13 tonnes per hectare, which would need to be doubled to make it economically viable, Apáti said.
Around 80% of the plums are sold on the domestic market and 20% of the harvest is exported. Main customers internationally include, among others, Germany and Austria.
Source: Balaton Zeitung