The World Apple & Pear Association has released its forecasts for the southern hemisphere top-fruit campaign this year indicating a decrease in the apple and an increase in the pear crop respectively.
Collected from industry groups in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, New Zealand and South Africa, the statistics showed that 2008 apple and pear Southern Hemisphere crops are expected to reach 5,204,148 tonnes and 1,405,267t, respectively. For apples, this represents a small decrease of 0.2 per cent on the 2007 crop while a somewhat bigger decrease in the pear crop of 2.3 per cent is recorded. These forecasts are up two per cent for apples and up 7.8 per cent for pears, compared with average production figures for the period 2004-07.
Pierre Peres, who was re-elected president of WAPA earlier this month said: “The collation of these comprehensive statistics has hitherto provided sound information from the southern hemisphere, complementing in a similar format the data already existing for the northern hemisphere production.”
The WAPA meetings were held in Berlin during Fruit Logistica when figures for Europe’s apple and pear stocks were also analysed. Apples in store at January 1, 2008 were at 3,161,951t and pears at 548,942t. These levels represent a slight increase for apples and for pears a decrease of 12 per cent compared to the same time last year. US representatives informed the meeting that stocks were slightly down for apples to 1,395,147t and 17 per cent higher than in January 2007 for pears at 173,548t.
Meanwhile, the European Commission has said that the EU marketing standard for apples will aligned with the UN-ECE standard in the coming months. The existing EU-provisions regarding sizing will end by May 31.
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