A cold winter in China looks set to result in smaller sizes for the garlic crop this season.
This year’s crop will be of good quality, but bulb size will be smaller than last season, according to Ryan Smith of export company Delica China, who noted that the estimated volumes should be similar to last year.
“Even though more garlic was planted for the 2010 harvest, the colder weather has meant the garlic size will be smaller,” he said. “As much as 80 per cent of the harvested garlic will fall in the 50-60mm size range.”
This year’s harvest should see the product arrive in the domestic market by late-May or early June.
According to Goodfarmer’s Kevin Li, early varieties in Henan Province could be ready by the middle of May, while in Jinshan, in Shandong Province, production will come online around early to mid-June.
Despite Mr Smith’s prediction of a high-quality crop, Mr Li said it is still too early to comment on garlic quality for the coming season, but he anticipates the cold winter will lead to fewer problems with appearance.
“The temperature during the Chinese New Year period in northern China was lower than normal,' he noted. 'This made garlic grow slowly meaning we will not have much larger-sized garlic On the other hand, low temperatures will make garlic skin thicker, so when it is being processed, there will be fewer defects.”
Garlic prices have been riding high in a range of US$1,000 to US$1,500 per tonne in recent months. Mr Smith said the higher prices are due to the 2009 harvest being down by around 20 per cent and the fact that speculators were buying the raw product and holding onto it in order to put upward pressure on prices.
“Price is always difficult to estimate, but early indications are that the price will continue to be high and may even exceed 2009 levels,” he said.
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