Brazil: Good apple production in Rio Grande do Sul

Farmers are happy with the production and the fruit quality. Expectations are that the production will be much bigger than last year, according to information from "Globo Rural".

An apple producer in Vacaria (Serra Gaúcha), cultivates Gala and Fuji varieties and is happy: We have a production around 40 tons of Gala and 60 of Fuji".

13,000 hectares of apple were planted in the whole State and production expectations are high: Rio Grande do Sul must produce around 500,000 tons of fruit.

A big part of production comes from Serra Gaúcha the municipality of Vacaria alone produced about 228,000 tons of apple last season.

The investigator at Embrapa, Gilmar Nachtigall, said that, this year, the harvest quality was surprising: "Despite the fact that we had a drought, due to the lack of rain, what we see it's a size slightly smaller, the fruit is smaller, but quality parameters, taste and aroma are just perfect".

The apple cultivated in Serra Gaúcha has as destination the market of fresh consumption and the juice industry. The apple harvest in the Region must go until April.