The last of Gisborne district’s apple harvest has been picked. Although packing is just under halfway through, the season looks set to have generated around 600,000 cartons. The value of the crop is forecast to be around $24 million.
The forecast production includes 420,000 cartons picked and packed by Kaiaponi Farms and around 180,000 cartons from the district’s other producers. The Gisborne apple harvest finished with the last of the Envy apple variety picked on April 15.
Kaiaponi Farms general manager Scott Wilson told gisborneherald.co.nz: “The harvest was fast and furious, with apple maturity advancing more rapidly than usual. Growers were under significant pressure to get their harvest completed with the labour available. All growers managed to complete in time and all staff need to be congratulated for some long days, and the big effort they made.”
“Some luck was also involved, with the weather gods being kind with little to no rain delays right through the apple harvest window,” Wilson added. “If the weather had not been so favourable there would still be crop left on the trees.”
Although the harvest had been completed there was still plenty to be done, with apple packing only 46 percent complete.