Orchards brace for big crop

By LIAM DANN

Good spring weather looks likely to produce bumper apple and grape crops this season.

Other crops such as kiwifruit are also expected to be a lot better than last season.

Most regions are reporting a significant improvement in flowering this year over last.

Last spring's frosts, hail, storms and drought were some of the worst growing conditions in years.

While there were still hurdles left before harvesting, early indications were that this year's apple crop would be as big as the industry had seen, said New Zealand Pip Fruit general manager Paul Browne.

All varieties were on track for a bumper year, he said.

"People are feeling quite comfortable at the moment," he said. "There is a little bit of frost damage around but it's not a major issue."

Pears were more difficult to predict at an early stage, but prospects were not looking too bad.

Last season, frosts had badly affected some growers, Brown said.

Overall, the crop had bounced so that reasonable volumes were exported, but size and quality were affected.

This year's apple exports could reach 19 million trays - one million up on last year, he said.

Grape Growers Council chairman John Webber said grape growers were also expecting a record harvest.

There were some frosts in Marlborough, but conditions were much better than last year and this, combined with a lot of new planting in the region, meant volumes were likely to be higher than ever.

"Last year was low," he said. "We had that bad frost that really tickled everyone up."

This year frost had hit only about 10 per cent of the total growing area.

Hawkes Bay had a few patches of frost but Gisborne had been fine, he said.

"Providing we have a normal year from here on, we're looking at a record harvest."

Central Otago growers have had a tougher time than most.

Some areas were affected by frost in November, and stage the Central Otago grape yield is projected to be up to 25 per cent lower than expected.

But that region accounted for only two or three per cent of the country's total grape production, Webber said.

Apricot yields in some Central Otago orchards are also below average because of cool spring weather.

New Zealand Kiwifruit president Grant Eynon said most of the main growing regions have had frosts again this year, but not to the extent of last year.

"Generally the conditions have been pretty favourable," he said. "We've had good rain. It hasn't been quite as warm as we'd like, but we've had enough fine spells to make sure that all the fruit got pollinated."

There had been good flowering, and early fruit numbers were looking good.

Harvest was still a long way away, and predictions of a dry summer were a cause for concern, he said.

"But I think you'll find most kiwifruit growers are pretty happy as we stand now."

The rising value of the New Zealand dollar was more of a concern than the weather.