At 237,200 tons, the harvest was 13 percent above the ten-year average and was 26 percent higher than in the previous year, according to data from Statistics Austria on Friday. All fruit groups recorded a plus.
Apples accounted for the lion’s share (94 percent) of the pome fruit, and local fruit farmers harvested 190,600 tons of them this year. That is a quarter more than in the previous year. According to Statistics Austria, the good yields were due to good flowering and only a small influence of late frost. More than a quarter were harvested in Styria. At 11,900 tons, the production of pears was also higher than in 2021 (plus 54 percent) and well above the ten-year average (plus 45 percent).
The effects of the late frost became apparent during the apricot harvest. At 4,600 tons, this was five percent above the previous year’s level, but 20 percent below the ten-year average. The plum harvest remained on average at 2,200 tons (plus 1 percent on the ten-year average), but was 28 percent above the previous year’s level. Around 2,600 tons of sour cherries and sour cherries were harvested this year, which means that production increased by 65 percent compared to the previous year and was 39 percent above the long-term average.
There were record harvests this year with 16,900 tons of strawberries, which was 19 percent more than in 2021 and 34 percent more than the volumes of the past ten years. The harvest of currants was also above average this year at 3,400 tons (plus 28 percent compared to 2021). At 2,100 tons, blueberries achieved the highest value since 2009 (plus 18 percent compared to 2021). The production of raspberries remained largely constant at 700 tons.
Source: Nachrichten
