It rained in NRW just in time for the apple harvest. Huge quantities don’t hang on the trees, but the apples taste particularly delicious because of the many hours of sunshine, say the experts. Nevertheless, NRW producers are very worried.
Kaarst (dpa / lnw) – After a very dry and at the same time sunny summer, NRW Minister of Agriculture Silke Gorißen (CDU) expects a good apple harvest in the state. There were hardly any pest infestations and hail failures in 2022 due to the weather, said Gorißen on Wednesday at an appointment halfway through the Rhenish apple harvest in Kaarst. A “successful apple season” can be expected. The high temperatures would have caused high sugar levels and gave rise to the expectation of sweet, aromatic fruits.
Apples have long been the undisputed favorite fruit of the Germans, said the minister. The per capita consumption is 18.5 kilograms per year – that corresponds to about 61 apples per person.
In NRW, around 73,000 tons of apples are expected to be harvested in 2022, which will be grown by 225 companies, mainly on the Lower Rhine and around Meckenheim on a good 2,000 hectares. At the event, Gorißen again campaigned for buying regionally produced apples. This not only gets jobs and the necessary infrastructure for local supplies, but also protects the environment.
The NRW fruit growers are concerned about the increased production costs as a result of the energy crisis. They fear that they will not be able to keep up with imports that are offered at lower prices. To promote regionally produced apples, the associations of fruit and vegetable farmers want to give away freshly harvested apples to consumers nationwide on Saturday (September 24th).
