Record pear crop in 2000

The 6,000 ha of pear orchards in the Netherlands bore a total of over 200 million kg of pears, the largest crop for fifteen years. The total pear crop was one and a half times that of 1999.

Two thirds of pears picked in 2000 were Conference; 135 million kg of this variety were grown last year, 40% more than in 1999. One ha of Conference trees produced 34,000 kg of pears last year.

Fewer apples

The Dutch apple crop was 461 million kg in 2000, 19% down on 1999. The apples were picked in nearly 13,000 ha of apple orchards.

The most popular apple variety is Elstar: 167 million kg, on 5, 500 ha. The area of Elstar trees diminished slightly, and moreover many young trees were planted in 2000. As these did not bear any apples, the yield per hectare fell. The Elstar crop decreased by about 13% last year.

The crop of Jonagolds was just over 160 million kg in 2000, one fifth down on the preceding year because of a much smaller area of Jonagold trees.

The production of Golden Delicious, Cox and Boskoop Red has been declining in the last ten years. In 2000, too, the crops of these varieties shrank.

Apple and pear crops

Folkert van der Werf