Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) – The fruit growers in the southwest can probably look forward to a slightly better harvest this year. According to preliminary estimates, an apple harvest of 373,000 tons can be expected, the State Statistical Office announced on Wednesday in Stuttgart. The forecast harvest volume is eight percent above the previous year’s value and above the average of the last five years. However, it is still uncertain how heat and drought will affect the further course of growth of the apples. Smaller fruits or sunburn are reported again and again.
While the early apple varieties are now ready for harvest, the cherry harvest is already over, it said. A total of 18,200 tons of sweet cherries were harvested, more than 40 percent more than in the weak previous year. The statisticians wrote that rain during the harvest season and cherry vinegar flies would have prevented a higher harvest volume. At 1800 tons, the sour cherry harvest was also slightly above the previous year’s figure.
According to the crop reporters, the forthcoming plum and damson harvest of 15,900 tons should also be well above the weak previous year’s figure of 10,000 tons.
