Pear production in the European Union is expected to increase by 12 per cent to 2.533m tonnes this year, according to new figures released on Friday 5 August at the apple and pear industry meeting Prognosfruit – held this year in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
The forecast crop for 2011 is also 8 per cent higher than the average crop for 2008-2010, and should see an 8 per cent rise in the volume of leading variety Conference available, at around 889,000 tonnes.
Other notable varieties are due to increase in volume: Williams' bon chretien will be up 8 per cent to 307,000 tonnes, and Abate Fetel - produced mainly in Italy – will also increase by 66 per cent to 370,000 tonnes.
According to the forecast figures, other pear crops in the Northern Hemisphere are due to be larger in 2011, including those in Turkey (+3 per cent), the US (+7 per cent) and Ukraine (+25 per cent).
