English top-fruit growers are expecting a good season, with reduced southern hemisphere imports pointing to a strong opening market.
However, English Apples & Pears chief executive Adrian Barlow said growers need to be cautious in this critical period of the season: “We are not sure exactly how the trees will behave in the five weeks up to picking. Too much rain could lead to a high incidence of watery fruit and splitting. More dry weather will cause further problems, as the day/night temperature differential will mean problems with colouring.
“At the moment, touch wood, things look very promising, but I’m very cautious,” he said.
Early estimates suggest that at 23,000 tonnes, Gala will experience its largest crop to date - up seven per cent on last year’s record crop. Growers are expecting fruit to eat well, with a good flavour and skin finish.
Volumes of Cox will be down by 20,000t on last year’s bumper crop, and at around 46,000t, will reflect an average harvest of two-three years ago, Barlow said.
“People were having difficulties getting colour on fruit, so growers left fruit on trees for a very long tome, and fruit was maturing and its storage life was reducing rapidly,” he added.
“If we get a crop of that number, it will be a successful season, providing quality is good.”
Sugar levels on Cox are also likely to be higher because of the hot summer temperatures, he said.
Braeburn will also produce a record crop, up 22 per cent on last year to 6,100t overall. But despite its predicted size, estimates still fell short of the 50 per cent year-on-year increase expected.
Egremont Russet and Spartan will produce average yields, while the Cameo crop will be slightly larger than last year.
Worcester will also increase, by five per cent, and Conference and Comice pears will be up 21 per cent to 28,000t and 60 per cent to 4,000t, respectively.
According to figures from top-fruit congress Prognosfruit, held in Budapest last weekend, volumes from the 15 old EU countries will be the lowest in a decade - down by six per cent on last year to 6.6 mt. The overall harvest from Europe is also estimated to be the lowest in 10 years at 9.5mt - a reduction of seven per cent on last year. Pears will produce an average yield of 2.5mt, matching the 2005 harvest and slightly higher than the average yield from 2002-2005.
“We have seen a much better balance of demand and supply and are likely to see almost no southern hemisphere overhang during the start of the European crop, so we are likely to see a much stronger market,” Barlow said, adding that many UK growers suffered losses last year, partly because of the over-supply-situation.”
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