Pipfruit NZ predicts big harvest for apple growers

Photo / APN

A bumper apple harvest is on the cards after a good growing season, says Pipfruit New Zealand chief executive Peter Beaven.

He said the apple harvest was getting underway in earnest this week and could be about 540,000 tonnes - 15-20 per cent higher than last year.

"We've got a fantastic crop. It's a real bounce-back crop."

It had been a very good growing season. "Size is looking excellent, pressure and cosmetics are great and we think we're going to have about our third or fourth biggest crop in history."

A report by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry last year forecast the 2010 export value for apples, which account for about 98.5 per cent of the harvest, and pears at $346 million, down from $418 million in 2009.

Growing conditions had been pretty much ideal in the three main areas of Hawkes Bay, Nelson and Central Otago, Beaven said.

"Productivity will be the highest ever," he said. "We think it's going to just about touch 60 tonnes per hectare."

The harvest needed about 20,000 seasonal workers picking fruit or working in pack-houses, with about 7500 people coming from overseas under the Recognised Seasonal Employer policy (RSE).

The majority of RSE employees would work in the pipfruit sector, Beaven said. "It's only the introduction of the RSE scheme that's actually given a lot of these guys confidence to grow their businesses."

Price negotiations were underway with key Asian markets.

"There's good levels of inquiry, and good prices will be achieved. Of course, we're going to be challenged by the exchange rate but the Northern Hemisphere markets are clearing nicely."

The European Union took about 55 per cent of exports, with Asia accounting for about 30 per cent and North America and the Middle East taking 10 per cent and 5 per cent respectively.

Meanwhile, China was the first country to import apples into Australia in about 90 years, Beaven said.

There could be an opportunity for New Zealand producers to get a small number of apples into Australia at the end of this year, but 2012 would be the first season of significant supply.