Portugal: Cherry production to triple this year compared to 2020

The cherry campaign should be “very positive” this year and triple productivity compared to 2020, while peach production should also increase, to “levels close to the average of the last five years”, informed the INE today. According to agricultural forecasts on May 31 of the National Institute of Statistics (INE), as for autumn/winter cereals, initial expectations “have not been fully confirmed”, “although there are still forecasts of increased productivity in soft wheat, barley and oats (+5%) and maintenance on durum wheat, triticale and rye”. Regarding the cherry season, and “despite some difficulties in the earlier varieties, it should reach a unit yield above 3.7 tons per hectare, triple that achieved in 2020”. “In cherry, there is a delay of about two weeks at the start of the campaign, with most producers only starting to harvest fruit in the third week of May. The later maturation of the early varieties and the lack of commercial quality of the first production of these ...