Aseleben (dpa/sa) – In Saxony-Anhalt it is again possible to eat cherries: This year’s season of sweet or sour fruits opened on Saturday at the state cherry festival in Aseleben in the Mansfeld-Südharz district. Agriculture Minister Sven Schulze (CDU) heralded the start of the cherry harvest at an orchard with representatives of the Saxon Fruit Association and the Saxony-Anhalt Fruit Specialist Group.
There were also numerous visitors to the festival, for whom the organizing farm, according to its own information, has a farmer’s market, a music program, a cherry party and plantation tours available until Sunday. On the occasion of the opening, a cherry cake several meters long was cut, and there was also a royal visit with the cherry prince and the blossom queen.
After apples, cherries are the second most important tree fruit in Saxony-Anhalt. According to the ministry, 63 companies in the state manage around 1100 hectares of orchards – mainly in the Mansfeld-Südharz district and in the Saale district. Cherries grow on 332 hectares, with many more sweet cherries (263 hectares) than sour cherries (69 hectares) being cultivated. The yield per hectare for sweet cherries was 46 quintals in 2020, compared to an estimated 50 tons in the previous year. In the case of sour cherries, the area under cultivation was 34.2 quintals in 2020, and an estimated 22 quintals in 2021. According to the ministry, the cherry season lasts until about the end of July.
