According to preliminary estimates of Poland's Central Statistical Office (GUS), the production of fruit trees in 2016 may reach 4 million tonnes.
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This is is more than 10 percent more than in the previous year. As mentioned by the GUS, the most decisive aspect in this regard will be the increase in the production of apples, which is estimated at 3.5 million tonnes, which would be a record size.
In 2015, the country's apple production stood at 3.17 million tonnes; the increase is therefore of 10.8 percent.
The reason for this is the fact that the growing conditions have been better than in the previous year. In the previous year, drought caused the apple harvest to be much lower than the potential one, as explained by Mariusz Dziwulski, expert in Analyses of agricultural markets at BGZ BNP Paribas.
When it comes to fruit trees, another product which will record a significant growth in volume is cherries. According to the published estimates, the production should reach 195 thousand tonnes, compared with less than 180 thousand tonnes a year earlier.
The final level, as noted in the report, will depend on economic factors, as the fall in prices could lead to a part of the production not being harvested, states Mariusz Dziwulski.
He adds that, when it comes to the harvest of fruit from bushes and berry plantations, the volume will be about 9 percent higher than last year, and decisive for this growth will be the increase in the production of raspberries.
According to the GUS, the harvest of raspberries may reach 120 thousand tonnes, which is about 60 percent more than the extremely low volume achieved last year. In any case, if the raspberry yield in autumn is plentiful, the Central Statistical Office believes that the production may come close to the record figure reached in 2014.
Greater, although to a smaller extent, will also be the harvest of currants, which according to the GUS will stand at a level of 165 thousand tonnes (160 thousand tonnes in 2015).
However, as in the case of cherries, low prices may cause the actual volume of harvested fruit to be lower, explains Mariusz Dziwulski.
He also notes that, due to the impact of last year's drought and the reduced harvest because of high temperatures in June, this year's strawberry production will fall and will amount to 196 thousand tonnes, about 5 percent less than last year. ■