Schwerin (dpa/mv) – The bush berry harvest in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania fell again in double digits last year. The biggest decline was in sea buckthorn, as the State Statistical Office announced on Friday. For years there has been a dying of cultures in the federal state, the cause of which is so far unclear. A three-year research project that started in early 2021 has not brought a breakthrough so far.
The sea buckthorn harvest amounted to 33 tons last year after 80.1 tons in the previous year and 129.3 tons in 2019. The black currant harvest decreased from 10.4 (2020) to 10.1 tons (2021). Raspberries from 13.5 to 11.3 tons. In contrast, growing harvest volumes were reported for cultivated blueberries from 27 to 30.1 tons and for aronia berries from 1.2 to 7 tons.
The total bushberry harvest in the Northeast fell by 17.2 percent to 171.8 tons in 2021. In 2020, the decline was 12.5 percent. The acreage shrank from 289.6 to 268 hectares – a decrease of 8.5 percent. Strawberries do not count as bush berries.