Forecasts point to a good year for fruit trees in Portugal

Source: INE Agricultural forecasts, on August 31, point to a good year for fruit trees. The productivity of pome fruit should reach values close to the maximum of the last 35 years, with increases of 20% for apples and 40% for pears. In peach, production recovers values in the region of 40 thousand tons (+15% compared to the previous campaign), while in kiwi the unit yield will be around 14 tons per hectare. In almond groves, the entry into production of new, more intensive irrigated orchards was decisive for the increase in productivity (+20%). As for wine vines, it is expected that the drop in productivity in the wine regions of Minho, Tejo and Lisbon will be offset by increases in the others, maintaining an overall productivity similar to that obtained in the previous harvest. In annual crops, the highlight is the historically high productivity in tomato for the industry (98.5 tons per hectare). In corn for grain, an increase in unit yield of 5% is expected, in a year without ...