Chamber of Agriculture: This year’s apple harvest is well below average

According to their statement sent to MTI on Tuesday, final data on the harvested quantity is not yet available, but they estimate that barely 160 thousand tons of apples were produced in the country in the 2025 season. This quantity is only half of the previous year’s already very low harvest. Of the harvested quantity, approximately 60-80 thousand tons may be table apples and 80-100 thousand tons may be industrial-quality fruit, which also means that our table apple crop corresponds to only 55-60 percent of the yield of a good vintage, while industrial apples are only 20-25 percent of the yield of an average vintage. It was reported that the extent of the crop loss in both the table and industrial apple segments is significant compared to market needs: it falls well short of the domestic table apple consumption of 110-120 thousand tons and the processing capacity of 350-400 thousand tons, although both segments should be served by at least 90 percent domestic production. According to the organizations, there are several factors behind the particularly poor harvest. The extreme drought and heat stress of last summer and early autumn, lasting nearly three months, despite the autumn rainfall, probably contributed to the poor flower bud development.

The greatest damage was caused by the frosts that arrived in early April and on May 10

Then, in June, heat waves often developed, which were coupled with the severe drought that had been going on since early spring, as well as high UV radiation. All this caused further quantitative and qualitative losses primarily on unirrigated plantations and sandy soils. They highlighted: Apple production is currently taking place on about 20 thousand hectares in Hungary, which is only half of what it was 20 years ago. In addition to the sharply falling crop area, the production potential in a good vintage would be about 500 thousand tons, of which about 120-130 thousand tons are of eating quality, and 370-380 thousand tons are industrial apples. In 2024, the domestic apple harvest was well below average: producers harvested only 342 thousand tons.

Idared is still the dominant variety in Hungary, according to the announcement

The cultivation and yield security of this variety are the most suitable for the country’s climatic conditions. In addition to Jonagold and Idared, the Gala, Golden Delicious, and Red Delicious shapes are also very popular, and the range of varieties expanding the range is constantly growing. However, the cultivation of new varieties also requires new technologies and new areas. At the same time, they warned everyone against starting larger plantings with untested varieties in unknown domestic conditions, as there is no specific test data on them yet.