An unofficial forecast cited on the Italiafruit News website suggests Italian kiwifruit production will fall by around 20-25 per cent this season compared with the 447,600 tonnes harvested in 2009/10 (according to Istat data).
The anticipated downturn, largely explained by adverse weather conditions which hampered Italian fruit production during the spring and early summer, as well as the recent outbreak of kiwifruit canker in major production region Lazio, means Italy – Europe's largest producer of kiwifruit – will most likely not produce in excess of 360,000 tonnes of the fruit this year.
Should the harvested volume prove to be at the lower end of this estimate, Italy could be looking at a national kiwifruit crop smaller than 340,000 tonnes – the smallest for at least eight years.
Hail and rains reportedly destroyed 70 per cent of fruit production in two areas of Italy's fruit-producing heartland Emilia-Romagna in June.
According to reported estimates, kiwifruit production in the areas affected – Meldola, Forlimpopoli, Longiano and Montiano – was completely wiped out.
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