The cherry harvest is already over in Lower Franconia, the fruit growers in Franconian Switzerland still have their hands full. Experts draw a first conclusion.
Forchheim/Kitzingen (dpa/lby) – Harvest in the morning, then sort, drive to the cooperative or sell directly: the fruit farmers in Franconian Switzerland are in the middle of the cherry harvest. The harvest will continue until the beginning of August, said Elias Schmitt from the fruit information center in the Forchheim district. He spoke of a “good harvest and good quality” of the cherries. Only the fruit size suffered because of the persistent drought. A number of fruit growers would water their trees to still get a good harvest.
Irrigation and how to best design it is a big topic, the expert emphasized. The fruit information center is working intensively to advise and support fruit growers.
The majority of the cherries that are picked in the triangle between Nuremberg, Forchheim and Bayreuth are marketed by the fruit farmers through cooperatives. But direct marketing also plays a role. Especially at the weekends, there are many stalls selling fresh cherries in Franconian Switzerland.
The region is one of the largest contiguous cherry-growing areas in Europe with more than 250,000 cherry trees on 25 square kilometers. Because fruit growing is considered to be weather-sensitive, the harvest volumes vary greatly from year to year.
In the Lower Franconian fruit-growing areas, the cherry harvest is already over, as Thomas Riehl from the Franconian Fruit Growers Association said: “The quality was good, the yields were good.” The drought was a problem, but the companies had adjusted to it and responded with artificial irrigation.
Riehl sees a big problem in marketing. Goods from abroad are cheaper, with these offers the local fruit growers could not compete. “The cheap offers cause problems.” Of course, the Franconian fruit growers also rely on direct marketing and sell them in farm shops or at weekly markets – but a large number of cherries go to the retail chains.
In Lower Franconia, early plum varieties are already being harvested. Overall, the harvest for each type of fruit starts two weeks earlier than usual, Riehl said.
