After the late frosts in spring 2017 and the good weather during the fruit bloom in 2018, the fruit trees in Baden-Württemberg have generated above-average numbers of flowers and thus achieved a very good fruit set. Despite the persistent drought in the summer, the top and stone fruit growers in the country were able to achieve a record harvest of around 538,300t. Among the apple growers, the harvest yield of 464,000 tons of apples quadrupled compared to the frosty, poor harvest year of 2017. A good third of the harvested apples were covered by the main varieties Elstar (63,900 t), Jonagold (52,700t) and Gala (40,200t).
The yields for the most important apple varieties were well above the long-term average from 2012 to 2017. Jonagored generated the highest yields with 52.7 t per hectare (ha) followed by Pinova (42.7 t / ha). Gala reached 34.2 t / ha and Elstar 32.3 t / ha for the sm
aller varieties. Plums and plums yielded 26,200 tonnes (14.7 tonnes / ha), and sweet cherries, with an average yield of 8.3 tonnes / ha and a harvest of 22,760 tonnes, also clearly topped the long-term average (+ 44%). Sour cherries achieved a similar result with 8.2 t / ha.
Shrub berries: Almost unchanged
In terms of shrub berries, the acreage remained virtually unchanged at 1,585 ha in 2018 compared to the previous year. By contrast, the yield of 11,000 t was a good one-third higher than in 2017. Blackcurrants, which are the most heavily cultivated shrub berry species, are still grown on more than one third of the area (560 ha). The harvested amount was over 4,000 t (7.2 t / ha). It was followed by nearly 3,500 t of red and white currants on 366 ha (9.5 t / ha). Field raspberries continue to decline (226 ha, -7%). Aronia berries are still very much in vogue, which was again confirmed by the extension of the area by 14 ha to 49 ha.
In sheltered conditions, in film tunnels or greenhouses, 71ha (+ 32%) of shrubs were cultivated. Above all, the production of raspberries in the tunnel was further expanded (59ha, + 35%). The crop yield was 580t with a steady yield of just under 10t / ha.
Strawberries: Protected cultivation continues to grow
Strawberries were harvested on approximately 2,500 hectares of productive land (26,800 tons), while in protected crops the proportion continued to increase in 2018 (around 350 hectares, + 33 percent). Overall, a higher harvest was achieved on just under 3% less land in 2018 than in the previous year: the average yield in open land cultivation was 10.0 t / ha (2017: 7.6 t / ha) and 16.0 t / ha in film tunnels (2017: 14.7 t / ha).