The peach harvest doubled in Hungary as well

b

According to the report of the Agrárközgazdasági Intézet (AKI), peach picking was already at 51.2% on July 16, and the average yield was around 10.8 tons/hectare, which represents a significant increase compared to last year. In 2023, a total of 13.8 thousand tons of peaches and nectarines were produced in Hungary. However, it is worth noting that the peach production area has decreased significantly in the last five years, in 2018 it was still grown on 4.9 thousand hectares, but last year it was only cultivated on 2.3 thousand hectares.

In the case of apricots, the results are similarly positive: the season started earlier and is expected to last longer than in previous years. Currently, 1,731 producers are engaged in the cultivation of apricots on nearly 5,000 hectares in our country, and the production areas are constantly increasing. The main apricot growing areas are located in the counties of Bács-Kiskun, Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén, Fejér, Pest, Somogy and Tolna.

Favorable prospects in Europe

In the case of the four leading peach and nectar producing countries of the European Union, Spain, Italy, Greece and France, the harvest volume is expected to increase by 5% compared to the previous year, reaching 2.7 million tons. Nectarine production may show an increase of 8% to 1.34 million tons, while that of peaches will increase to 1.04 million tons, which represents an improvement of 4%.

The yield of flat peaches alone may decrease this year, expectedly by 4%, to 310.8 thousand tons. However, this slight decline does not significantly affect the positive outlook of the peach market as a whole.