According to the data presented by the president of Afrucat, Montse Baró, the president of the Committee of Apples and Pears of Afrucat, Joan Serentill, and the Secretary of Food of the Department of Climate Action, Food, and Rural Agenda of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Carmel Mòdol, Catalonia is forecast to produce 23% fewer apples and 24% fewer pears than in 2021.
The sector expects to achieve the lowest pome fruit harvest in the last 5 years because of spring frosts, which also seriously affected Catalonia's stone fruit harvest. Expectations are producers will harvest 229,400 tons of apples and 101,100 tons of pears.
According to Carmel Modol, "this drop is exclusively due to weather conditions. Statistics show pome fruit plantations have been growing slowly in recent years and there have been no setbacks detected.”
Apples
According to forecasts, Catalonia will produce 229,400 tons of apples in 2022, i.e. 18% less than in the last 5 years and 23% less than in 2021.
The varieties that had the biggest decrease in production compared to 2021 were the red varieties with 33%, the Golden with 31%, and the Granny varieties with 29%.
The frosts affected all crops in the Ebro Valley, which predicts a similar decrease. It should be noted, however, that the district of Girona was not affected by the frost and that, despite suffering a slight production decrease compared to last year's production*, its production increased by 6% over the average of the last 5 years. (*In 2021 Girona achieved a record production figure)
Pears
According to forecasts, Catalonia will produce 101,100 tons of pears this year, i.e. 24% less volume than last year. This significant impact on production is also due to the frost.
The Ercolini and limonera varieties experienced the greatest setbacks, as their production fell by 43% and 31% respectively.
According to forecasts, the apple and pear campaign will be delayed by 3 to 7 days, the quality of the fruits will be good, and fruit sizes will be lower than the ones achieved in the previous campaigns, with the exception of the Girona apple, which will yield normal to big sizes.
Baró and Serentill wanted to ease the distribution: "We can ensure that, even if production falls, we'll supply our national customers with the qualities and volumes they expect from us."
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