It is estimated China’s apple production in the year ending June 2012 will have jumped by five percent on the preceding year, according to a recent report by the USDA.
The Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN) Report stated China’s yearly apple production would weigh in at 35m tonnes. This is due in part to a good growing season, the report stated, as well as an increase in the area planted to apples, which increased by three per cent on the previous year to occupy 2.2m hectares.
New apple plantings are taking place in western provinces such as Shaanxi, Gansu, Xinjiang and Ningxia where there is more arable land available.
Labour costs in these regions is also cheaper compared to the eastern provinces whereacreage is gradually decreasing as growers switch to more profitable fruit crops like cherries, the report stated.
The industry has seen a significant increase in the cost of labour recently. According to the report, a labourer in Shandong province is typically paid Yn100 (US$15.6) per day to work in an apple orchard, which is a 25 per cent increase over the previous year.
Pear production in the year ending June 2012 is forecast to increase by four per cent, and is expected to weigh in at 15.6m tonnes.
This increase is attributed to favourable growing conditions in the main production areas.The total area planted to pears has decreased by one per cent to 105m hectares. The report states this is due to growers switching to more profitable crops such as grapes, cherries and nectarines.
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