W19: Peach & Nectarine Update

In W19 in the peach and nectarine landscape, the Spanish stone fruit season is starting in Extremadura, where Frutas Biomova has just begun harvesting its biodynamic fruit. They expect to have good production volumes of all fruits, except for the first nectarines which are usually harvested in May. This is due to the occurrence of frosts in the area that caused temperatures to drop to -5 degrees at the time of the flowering of the earliest nectarines. Fortunately, in 2023, the flowering was delayed in all trees, and thus only that early variety has been lost. They expect that by the end of May, in W21, they will have nectarines available with a Brix of up to 16 degrees. They also anticipate harvesting peaches around the second week of June. Italy received spring and summer fruits from Spain, with white-fleshed peaches in Trevis priced at USD 4.85/kg, in Rome at USD 4.31/kg, Florence at USD 4.31/kg, Padua at USD 3.78/kg, and Verona at USD 3.45/kg.

Due to the unsatisfactory price of Chinese Dalian nectarines in 2022, farmers were not enthusiastic about planting them in 2023. Many farmers gave up planting this season, which reduced the 2023 production by about 30% coupled with a subsequent price rise. In previous years, the farm-gate price of Dalian nectarines grown in greenhouses was about USD 2.00- 2.28kg, but in 2023 it rose to USD 3.43-3.71/kg, an increase of more than half. In addition, it is reported that there was rain and frost when the nectarines blossomed in 2023. The nectarines planted in the greenhouse were not affected. It is not clear whether the nectarines planted in the open field will be affected. Lastly, Chungju City in South Korea expects to expand support for joint sorting costs for apples and peaches and logistics costs for joint shipments. It is a dimension of strengthening the competitiveness of producer distribution. The joint sorting and logistics cost support project for agricultural products is designed to commercialize and ship agricultural products that meet demand and secure various sales channels through integrated marketing. As for the project, USD 0.11/kg of peaches and USD 0.026/kg of apples are subsidized for joint sorting and shipping organizations. For shipping logistics costs, USD 0.30 is supported based on USD 0.38/box for jointly shipped boxes. The farm household burden stands at USD 0.075.