Italian kiwi production forecast for 2012-2013, with data estimates for the northern hemisphere

On October 4th, at a conference held in Verona (Italy) on estimates of production and marketing for Kiwi in the 2012/13 season, Elisa Macchi, Head of the Observatory's market CSO -Vegetables Service Center of Ferrara presented some data on the expected output.

In 2011, the Italian harvest was 471,870 tons and now the estimates are of 352,175 tons (-25%). The worst declines are expected in northern Italy (-75% in the Piedmont region, due to extensive damage from frost) and central Italy (-19% in Lazio, the main producing region, due to bacteria PSA. Here, the production will fall to 128,900 tons against 159,500 in 2011).

Table 1. The forecasts for the production of kiwifruit in Italy divided by regions.

Table 2. Forecasts for some minor varieties of kiwifruit in Italy

Production forecasts in the northern hemisphere (see table below), show an increase compared to 2011 only in Greece (+5%, 100,000 tons) and California (+15%, 30,950 tons). The total production in Europe in the 2012/13 season will be 19% lower than the previous year and a decrease of 15% compared to the average 2007-2011.

In Greece, the area dedicated to kiwi is gradually expanding from about 4,500 acres to more than 6,700 in 2011 (according to Eurostat). Production in Greece is characterized by a strong export that grows in tandem with the progression of the product range. It went from just over 30,000 tonnes in 2007 to 100,000 in 2011.

Overall, the non-EU European countries have absorbed almost 60% of total exports and the share continues to increase. The main importing country remains Russia (33% of the total), and Ukraine (9%) and Moldova (5%) and, in parallel, in 2011/12, shipments to the European Union countries contracted to 33 %.

Greece within the European Community focuses its exports to eastern countries: Romania (8%), Germany (6%), Bulgaria (5%). Significantly lower is the export other destinations.

Italy has exported 358,667 tons in 2011, up 7% compared to 2010. At an international level the bacterial epidemic that has affected 56% of the kiwi surface in New Zealand may have an impact in the medium and short-term. Italy mainly exports to EU countries (241,727 tons in 2011). Among non-European countries, Russia is the best customer (26,626 tons), followed by North America (+27%, 23,002 tons), South America (+51%, 19,177 tons), Middle East (+98 %, 17,789 tons), Africa (+133%, 10,857 tons) and Oceania (+12%, 6,413 tons).