Germany: Thuringian fruit farms expect low cherry harvest

06/24/2024 | 3:17 p.m. | ID: 39577 | Department: Agriculture | Plant Erfurt (agrar-PR) - The Thuringian fruit growers that focus on market fruit production are expecting significantly lower yields for both sweet and sour cherries this year due to frost events. According to the Thuringian State Office for Statistics, a yield of just 1.8 tons per hectare is expected for sweet cherries. The first forecast for sour cherries is 3.6 tons per hectare. The last time there was a comparably low cherry harvest was in 2002. At that time, similarly low yields were recorded at 2.2 tonnes per hectare for sweet cherries and 4.3 tonnes for sour cherries. According to this first estimate, the yield for sweet cherries is more than two thirds lower than the previous harvest year (-4.1 tonnes per hectare or -70 percent) and the long-term average for 2018/2023 (-4.6 tonnes per hectare or -72 percent). A harvest of around 500 tonnes of sweet cherries is expected. The area under sweet cherries in ...