This year, the Egyptian grape season is expected to begin early as a result of highly erratic weather conditions.
An early start to the season allows exporters to take full advantage of the period in May when local competition is at its lowest, as the Indian season reaches its conclusion and the Spanish season is yet to commence.
“We had a very warm winter, which had a positive effect on earliness,” said Amr El-Beltagy of exporter Belco. “We estimate that the season might be a week earlier than usual, starting with white grapes in the first week of May, or in the second week at the latest, and finishing with red grapes in the third or fourth week of June.”
However, although warm winter weather may have aided producers in bringing the harvest time forward, it may also result in lower soil fertility.
“It looks like there is going to be a decrease in production is some areas of Egypt due to the lower fertility of the soil resulting from the weather conditions,” explained Tarek Bedir of Magrabi Agriculture. “We expect our production to be down a little compared with last year, but nothing is concrete at this moment.”
