The performance of apples, one of the main fruits produced in Uruguay, fell by 30% in the 2011/2012 harvest compared to the previous year, with just 16 kilos per tree.
The 3,067 trees produced a harvest of 50,271 tonnes.
According to the 2012 Fruit Survey carried out by professionals in the area of Agricultural Statistics (DIEA) from the Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries, this performance is the lowest in the past 10 years.
The opposite is true for pears. The 654 trees produced 18,268 tonnes; a performance of 28 kilos per tree and over 22% more than in the 2010/11 harvest, which was the largest in the past four years.
The performance of peaches (15 kilos per plant), nectarines (16 kilos) and plums (14 kilos) was similar to the previous campaign.
Quinces also showed a downward trend, with 27 kilos per plant.
The Fruit Tree Survey was elaborated with data from 345 producers.
Source: Elobservador