European apricot crop down 20%

Significant downturn in production volumes forecast for Italy, Greece and Spain, while France expects only slight decreas.

European apricot production is set to fall dramatically this season, according to new figures unveiled at this week's Europêch, the annual stonefruit sector meeting, in Perpignan, France.

As confirmed by Italian industry association CSO, overall apricot volumes across the four major European producers – France, Greece, Italy and Spain – are predicted to fall by 20 per cent compared with last season to around 414,000 tonnes.

Italy, Europe's largest apricot producer, is preparing for a 22 per cent decrease in volumes, from 228,000 tonnes in 2010 to some 189,000 tonnes this year.

The downturn is likely to most evident in the south of the country, where production forecasts are down by 28 per cent overall as a result of recent cold conditions.

In Emilia-Romagna in the north, meanwhile, the decrease will not be quite so pronounced at around 15 per cent, CSO reported.

While apricot supply in France, the next-largest producer, is set to fall by just 3 per cent year-on-year to 134,000 tonnes – still above the average for the past six years – the biggest decline is set to be visible in Greece.

There, an expected drop in output is set to mean the country will produce just 40,100 tonnes, 43 per cent less than the 70,400 tonnes it produced in 2010 – although that figure in itself was 35 per cent up on 2009 and 10 per cent above the average for 2004-2008.

Spain continues to fall away in terms of its apricot production area, resulting in an estimated 51,000 tonnes of production for 2011 and a likely 21 per cent decline when compared with the previous campaign's volume.

Last season, Spain saw its apricot output drop by 20 per cent to 69,670 tonnes, a marked 29 per cent decrease on the 2004-2008 average.