The intense and anomalous wave of bad weather that hit the entire peninsula in May with rain, hail, wind and temperatures below the seasonal average has dealt a severe blow to the cherry industry. The 2019 marketing year began in both the North and the South about 7-10 days late on the normal harvest calendars, with the first early Bigarreau varieties.
The production area of Bari alone accounts for 30% of national volumes. There, production was already expected to fall as a result of adverse weather conditions recorded during flowering and fruit set, and it was further affected by the bad weather of May.
The harvest took place in the first week of the month. At the same time, the intense rains, the high level of morning humidity, together with temperatures below the seasonal average, had a negative impact on the quality of the product. The first fruits presented problems of cracking and not entirely adequate brix grade. Consequently, the product had to be carefully selected in the field, with rather high levels of waste.
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The persistence of the rains and the strong hailstorm that fell on 12 May have further damaged the production. To date, in addition to the Bigarreau variety, which is almost 90% compromised, cracking phenomena have also been observed on medium ripening varieties such as Giorgia, while no damage has been caused to the Ferrovia.
On the market, prices have inevitably been affected by a strongly compromised quality. For Bigarreau, in fact, the prices for the first week of May stood at 4.50 euros/kg, down sharply from 6.00 euros/kg in the same period of 2018 (-25%).
In the following weeks, although constantly decreasing on a weekly basis, the price were higher than in the previous campaign, due to an increasingly limited supply.
Even for the product from Modena, whose harvest began last week, the continuous rainfall has almost completely compromised the production of the earliest varieties. The limited quantities harvested, although subjected to strict sorting, have nevertheless shown serious problems of tightness, with much shorter shelf-life. The debut prices were between 3.50 and 4.00 euro/kg, an increase compared to the previous marketing year due to the very limited quantities.
Source: ismeamercati.it