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California’s stonefruit sector suffered its third dismal season in a row in 2008, according to local press reports. Surplus volumes, weak demand and high input costs are to blame, they said.

Despite a promising start with moderate prices and good quality, as volumes peaked in late June many retailers did not take the supply the industry had available; inventory soared in cold storage and the FOB market dropped below the cost of production for the remainder of the season, a Farm Press report said.

“While the season started out well, it turned into a year the industry couldn’t wait to finish,” Gary Van Sickle, director of research and regulatory compliance is quoted as saying.

Mr Van Sickle and Gordon Smith of industry body the California Tree Fruit Agreement believe production must drop by 10 -15 per cent annually to ensure industry marketplace stability, Farm Press said.

Orchard removal of poor varieties needs to be stepped up to reduce volume, they said. The orchards taken out should not be planted back to fruit, but to other commodities – something growers have been doing for several years, opting for almonds, citrus and grapes rather than tree fruit. That is likely to be stepped up in the wake of 2008, according to the report.

Other factors affecting the industry include higher input costs, ongoing financial and regulatory constraints and “societal-economic” pressures, Mr Van Sickle and Mr Smith said.

Meanwhile, returns to Californian almond growers have dropped sharply due to record production and flagging world demand. Returns have fallen from US$0.85 per kg in 2007 to US$0.45 per kg at the start of 2009.

California exports 70 per cent of its crop and the strengthening US dollar portends reduced sales to leading Asian markets such as India and China.