French pear producers are expecting a 14 per cent decrease in year-on-year volume this season.
The industry is experiencing a fall in acreage as grubbing of orchards takes place against a background of diminishing returns, although the country’s biggest pear production region Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur has registered a small increase this year.
There will be 18 per cent fewer Williams pears this year than in the 2004-05 season
And across the basket of varieties, production will be down. Weather problems have hit hard; in Rhône-Alpes, form instance, frost and snow during flowering affected all varieties; and in Aquitaine, the production of Comice pears fell because of problems during the flowering period.
The fall of 14 per cent represents a seven per cent drop on the five-year average. Producers are still describing quality as “good”.
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