The harvest of the Ente plum, the renowned variety used for producing Agen PGI prunes, concluded last week. Gaëtan Vergnes, Secretary General of the Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Pruneau (BIP), provided an update on this year's campaign.
"A Smaller Harvest than in 2023, But Not Catastrophic"
"We can't call it a great harvest, but it's not catastrophic either, unlike the 2021 and 2022 seasons," says Gaëtan Vergnes. After two disastrous years due to frost, 2023 offered some relief to producers, with yields returning to 40,500 tonnes (including 32,000 for PGI prunes). However, this year, initial estimates (pending confirmation) suggest a 20-30% decline compared to last year, meaning approximately 120,000 tonnes of fresh plums were harvested, resulting in around 40,000 tonnes of prunes.
Only prunes grown, harvested, dried, and processed within six South-Western departments—Tarn et Garonne, Lot et Garonne, Lot, Dordogne, Gers, and Gironde—representing 99% of France's prune production, can bear the Pruneau d'Agen PGI label, obtained in 2022. Moreover, only the largest prunes meet the PGI specifications.
Excess Water and Root Asphyxia
What caused the drop? "Bad weather since late April, particularly hailstorms and heavy rains in the PGI zone. The excess water led to root asphyxia, which caused tree deaths," Vergnes explains. On the bright side, "The quality is good, even if the sugar content is lower than in previous years, with variations depending on the region, but it's still respectable." This year, the prunes will be larger in size. 
A Short Harvest
The 2024 harvest lasted between three weeks and a month, "a relatively short duration compared to industry norms," according to Gaëtan Vergnes. "There were significant losses due to storms and wind, which caused many plums to fall from the trees all at once. Once the fruit hits the ground, it's lost." In the 1990s, harvesting was done manually, allowing fallen fruit to be collected, but today, harvesting is fully mechanized (except in the organic sector). "Manual harvesting requires too much labor with no real benefit today," Vergnes concludes.
For more information:
Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Pruneau
2 rue des Magnolias
47303 Villeneuve-sur-Lot
Tel. 05 53 41 55 55
[email protected]