As the hotter than average weather in Peru is slowing the growth and exports of blueberries, the opposite is happening with the table grape harvest, which has now speeded up the harvest to nearly a month earlier. According to Oscar Salgado, a table grapes expert, giving feedback on the early production area of Piura North of Peru: “Well currently Piura are facing a complex situation, and everyone is talking about a 25-30% reduction compared to the expected harvest or even in comparison to the 2022-23 season, the Provid forecast is less clear about it. Now, no one wants to admit what's really happening on their farms.”
Oscar Salgado
He says the switchover between the European production and that from the Southern Hemisphere is key. “More than ever the transfer between EU (Spain - Italy) and Overseas are key to speedup loadings and advise our customer about gaps or potential non confirmative arrivals. The Piura Region is loading to U.S., a bit to the UK and little to EU as well as Latam. We start loading for SL."
Hotter weather speeding up Peru’s table grape harvest
“A bit under a 4,000 ha planted farm / company export forecast 2023-24 was 8 million 8,2 kg cases, today they announced just 6 million cases for export. The truth will be known in week 51 for everyone. I would say there are serious problems, some more than others, affecting both volumes and quality, as well as potential arrival condition issues and MRL’s within EU but with five to seven actives if no more. Sweet Globe and Autumn Crisp in WSD are the most affected cultivars.
“Among the RSD varieties, Sweet Celebration is affected, and among the black ones, it's Sable. There is very limited availability of Sugraone and Crimson, which are one of the few so far ‘okay-ish’ remaining old varieties in the region. The phenological stages of the plants are very complicated because the minimum temperatures are three to four degrees above historical averages, speeding up all production cycles as well as the pest and diseases cycles. The Sweet Globe harvest now and within the coming three to four weeks are 21-23 mm and 200/300-550 grams bunches. Autumn Crisp max 23-26 mm (last season 28-31 mm), 600-700 gram bunches, so no grape for China so far. In general later orchards tend to be much betters (week 49-52 harvest),” explains Salgado.
He says some varieties are advancing 20 to 25 days ahead of the usual harvest time. “With this situation, we have shorter cycles, which means smaller calibers/berry sizes, lighter berries - 04 up to 1 gram per mm comparing to the 2022-23 season - for the same size, and a lot of irregularity in calibers. In simple terms, smaller calibers and less berry weight are expected,” concludes Salgado.
For more information:
Oscar Salgado
Tel: +34 648 03 96 53