Fruit volumes in the Czech Republic grew 8 per cent to 149,205 tonnes in 2013, according to national Fruit Growers Union chairman Martin Ludvik and reported by the Czech News Agency.
However Ludvik, addressing Fruit Growers Day in Hradec Kralove, noted that the figure was well down on the ten-year average for the country - ten years ago, some 190,000 tonnes of fruit was harvested in the Czech Republic.
According to the Fruit Growers Union, harvests have declined in recent years because of more inclement weather, aging orchards and fewer newly planted trees.
Last year, apple volumes hit 120,602 tonnes, down from 160,000 a decade ago. However, pear volumes actually climbed 29 per cent year-on-year to a record 7,437 tonnes.
'Pear trees are one of the few positive cases of Czech fruits growing as they have become the second most important kind of fruit grown in the country,' Ludvik said.
Growers' annual revenue from productive orchards in the country is estimated to reach about Kc1bn (€36.3bn) in an average year.
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