A total of 2.8 million hectares are devoted to the cultivation of fruit in the European Union, while another 2.1 million hectares are used for the production of vegetables, according to Eurostat data.
As far as the fruit acreage is concerned, Spain is in the lead. Last year, the country had 942 thousand hectares of fruit plantations, which is up to 33 percent of the total EU acreage. In turn, Italy had the largest acreage devoted to vegetable cultivation, 420 thousand hectares, or 19.8 percent of the EU total.
Looking at production volumes, apples are the most commonly cultivated fruit in the EU. In 2016, the Union's apple production totalled 12.5 million tonnes; almost 25 kg per capita. Meanwhile, the most popular vegetables are tomatoes, with about 18.5 million tonnes harvested last year, i.e. 36 kg per capita.
Poland is the undisputed leader in apple production in Europe. More than one in four apples in the EU come from the Vistula River (28.7%). Italy ranked second (19.6%) and France followed (14.5%). Poland is also the largest producer of cherries in the Union (29.3% of total EU harvest), ahead of Spain (11.9%), Italy (11.2%) and Hungary (9.9%).
When it comes to the production of strawberries, Poland stands second in the EU (17.4%). The ranking is topped by Spain, with 31.6 percent of the total, and Germany stands third (12%). The peach market in the Union is dominated by three countries: Italy (33.9 percent), Spain (33.6 percent) and Greece (23.3 percent).
Poland also ranked first in terms of carrot production (14.7% of EU harvest). Behind it are the United Kingdom (12.9 percent), Germany (11.5 percent), the Netherlands (10.7 percent) and France (10.4 percent). The cultivation of tomatoes is dominated by the Italians and Spaniards, with 35.5% and 28.2% of the total EU production, respectively.
Source: biznes.interia.pl
