19% decrease for peach and nectarine production in Europe

The 2020 edition of medFEL has been canceled due to the pandemic crisis. Usually the show is the place where the harvest forecasts are revealed at European level. Despite the postponement of the event, here are the 2020 harvest forecasts for peaches and nectarines.

 

 

 

After a winter marked by mild temperatures, some varieties presented a heterogeneous load and overall very average, the production potential seemed close to normal. But in March, certain production basins such as Aragon, Catalonia, the Rhone Valley and northern Italy experienced frosts that impacted production potential.

 

 

 

 

 

Italy:

 

Combined with a reduction in production areas, mainly in the North, Italy predicts in 2020 a production of peaches and nectarines which will fall well below the million tonnes mark with nearly 820,000 tonnes, a harvest that is historically low and that we hadn't seen for over 25 years. The 2020 forecast in Italy represents a drop of 28% compared to 2019 production and 34% compared to the 2014/18 average. The same goes for the pavy peaches with just over 50,000 tonnes forecast, a decrease of 44% compared to 2019 and 30% compared to the average.

 

 

 

Greece:

 

Greece also suffered from freeze, especially in the Macedonia region which concentrates the bulk of Greek production. With a forecast of harvesting peaches and nectarines of just over 300,000 tonnes, we are 10% below 2019 production and 3% above the 2014/18 average. For 'pavia' which is the specialty of Greek production, the forecast is 8% lower than the 2019 production and 13% higher than the five-year average.

 

 

 

Spain:

 

In Spain, the frost in March in the Ebro basin and its tributaries and the rain in April in the South (Murcia, Andalusia) also affected production. With a forecast of 1,114,000 tonnes of peaches, flat peaches and nectarines, Spanish production is at the 2018 level, which represents a drop of 14% compared to 2019 and 11% compared to the 2014/18 average.

 

In the flat peaches segment, a peculiarity in Spain, a forecast of 282,000 tonnes is a decrease of 13% compared to 2019. For peaches paved for industry but also for the fresh market in Spain, we observe a relative stability with -1% compared to 2019 and + 3% compared to the average.

 

 

 

France :

 

With a forecast of nearly 183,000 tonnes of peaches and nectarines, French production should be -7% from 2019 production and -11% from the 2014/18 average.

 

 

 

All these accumulated deficits give a European forecast of 2.4 million peaches, flat peaches and nectarines, i.e. a drop of 19% compared to 2019 and also 19% compared to the five-year average. For these subspecies intended exclusively for the fresh market, we must go back to 2003 and 1998 to observe such low production levels.

 

For pavies, the drop is more limited with a forecast of 773,000 tonnes, a decrease of 9% compared to 2019 and an increase of 4% compared to the five-year average.

 

The total of all subspecies gives a European forecast of just under 3.2 million tonnes compared to 3.8 million in 2019 and 3.7 million for the 2014/18 average.