The decline in the area was due, in particular, to the reduction of blackcurrants by 98 hectares to 607 hectares and by the open air raspberry cultivation by 32 hectares to 242 hectares.
The cultivation areas of the red and white currents with 348 hectares, as well as the gooseberries and blackberries with 127 hectares and 83 hectares, remained largely stable. Less common berries such as Aronia berries (19 hectares) and Kiwis (15 hectares) thrive in the country. The main focus of berry cultivation lies in the southern Rhine valley, by Lake Constance and in the area Heilbronn.
With a harvest of 2,900 metric tonnes (+11 percent) red and white currents represent more than a third of the fruits produced, thus replacing the blackberry as the most important berry species. Their volume decreased by one fifth to around 2,400 metric tonnes compared to the previous year. Approximately 1,000 metric tonnes of wild strawberries were harvested this year.
Heavy losses (-31 percent) were also recorded in the blackberry harvest, which reached only 440 metric tonnes, mainly due to the cherry fly.
Source: Proplanta
