According to Aurel Tanase, president of the Interprofessional Organization of Vegetable and Fruit Products, Romania's plum production has dropped this year by at least 30%. In 2016, Romania produced over 512,000 tonnes of plums, which is 45,000 tonnes higher than the apple production, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics (INS).
"While in a good year the plum yield usually reaches 15-20 tonnes per hectare, this year the yields are lower and stand at about 10 tonnes per hectare, mostly due to the spring weather. From a quantitative point of view, plums have the largest share of Romania's total fruit production, mostly because the fruit has other many other uses besides fresh consumption. It can be used for the production of compote, jam or brandy," explained Aurel Tanase.
Despite this 30% drop, Romania has every chance of retaining its position as the EU's leading plum producer, as production in 2016 is still more than twice as high as that recorded by its main competitor, Spain.
Source: zf.ro
