The World Apple and Pear Association (WAPA) met last week at Fruit Logistica for its annual general meeting, releasing crop forecasts for the upcoming southern hemisphere seasons and announcing changes at the top of the organisation.
Pipfruit New Zealand's Peter Beaven was elected to replace Kevin Moffitt of USA Pears as WAPA's new president, while Daniel Sauvaître of French association ANPP was chosen as the new vice-president.
Meanwhile, the association forecast a volume of 5.47m tonnes of apples for the southern hemisphere, a minor rise of 1 per cent compared with 2012. Exports were expected to increase by 4 per cent to 1.67m tonnes.
Argentina and Brazil are forecast to see production rise, by 10 and 7 per cent respectively, while the largest producer, Chile, is expected to see volumes fall by 8 per cent.
As for pears, volumes are anticipated to reach 1.52m tonnes, representing a slight increase of 2 per cent, while exports are forecast to rise by 5 per cent to nearly 750,000 tonnes.
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