There are extensive fruit-growing areas in Thuringia. Apple and pear yields are suffering from the drought. In the case of cherries, on the other hand, a good harvest ended up in the baskets at the beginning of the hot summer.
Erfurt (dpa/th) – Little yield of apples and pears, but a good cherry harvest – this is how the forecasts and results of the Thuringian fruit growers turn out this year. In the case of apples, a rather poor harvest is expected after the dry and hot summer, as the State Statistical Office announced on Monday in Erfurt.
The companies therefore expect an average yield of 20 tons per hectare for apples. Some of the fruits would have suffered sunburn. The estimated yield will be 14 tons per hectare or 40 percent below last year’s result. The long-term average for the years 2016 to 2021 will be more than a quarter (28 percent) below. That’s eight tons less per hectare. A total of around 17,700 tons of apples are to be picked.
The popular fruit was grown on 873 hectares in Thuringia – there are large areas in the Fahner Höhen near Erfurt and in the Unstrut-Hainich district. Apple yields have also fluctuated greatly in recent years, according to data from the State Office.
A yield of around seven tons per hectare is expected for pears – almost a third (32 percent) less than in 2021. The long-term average is three tons per hectare or 28 percent below. The harvest is estimated at 144 tons of pears.
On the other hand, sweet cherry trees responded well to the weather this year. The harvest of the red fruits was above average, as reported by the state office. A yield per hectare of eight tons was achieved. Compared to the average for the years 2016 to 2021, this is a harvest gain of one ton or 22 percent. Compared to 2021, three tons more cherries per hectare were harvested. That is an increase of 52 percent. The harvest totals around 2,200 tons of sweet cherries.
The harvest of sour cherries was also above average at around nine tons per hectare. That was two tons less per hectare compared to the previous year, but one ton or eight percent more than the multi-year average. Around 1800 tons of sour cherries fell from the trees.
