Peach and nectarine production to fall

Forecasts published at this year's Europech' meeting for the production of peaches and nectarines across Europe point to a downturn in volumes in both categories, as well as a 9 per cent decrease in clingstone volumes.

The release of this year's peach, nectarine and clingstone forecasts follows yesterday's publication of the annual production forecasts for European apricots.

Delegates attending the annual conference, held alongside Medfel in Perpignan, France, heard that, overall, French peach and nectarine production is forecast to fall 12 per cent to 303,759 tonnes, 22 per cent lower than the average figure for 2004-2008.

Total peach and nectarine production in Italy, meanwhile, is expected to be 3 per cent lower than 2009, and 6 per cent lower than the four-year average, at 1.43m.

With an anticipated 10 per cent fall in Spain's total output to 656,414 tonnes, the country's production is poised to slip 5 per cent below the 2004-2008 average.

The forecasters also suggested a significant drop in production in Spain's earliest peach-producing regions due to cold and rainy conditions during the winter months.

And in Greece, which is set to produce 281,400 tonnes of peaches and nectarines, output will be down 13 per cent on that average but 4 per cent up on last season.

Peaches

Total peach production across the major European producing countries is expected to fall by 3 per cent year-on-year to 1.33m tonnes, a figure which is 9 per cent lower than the five-year average.

Conversely, peach volumes in Greece are expected to rise by 8 per cent this season compared with 2009, recovering some of the ground lost last year but still 10 per cent below the average for the previous five years.

Elsewhere, major European peach producers Spain, Italy and France all anticipate a downturn in production.

Spanish peach volumes are set to come in around 284,542 tonnes, 6 per cent lower than the previous campaign's figure.

In France, peach volumes are forecast to rise 8 per cent year-on-year to 159,595 tonnes, while in Italy the corresponding figure is set to be 9 per cent down on last year at 676,750 tonnes.

Nectarines

Europe's nectarine volumes are predicted to fall 7 per cent on the 2009 result, dropping to 1.35m tonnes.

Production is due to fall in all four of the major supply countries: down 14 per cent in France (144,164 tonnes), down 12 per cent in Spain (371,872 tonnes), down 5 per cent in Greece (74,600 tonnes) and down 3 per cent in Italy (756,670 tonnes).

Stonefruit production forecast 2010 (tonnes)

Source: Europech' / Medfel