Czech Republic: Lowest fruit harvest in years expected
The Czech fruit harvest is expected to fall by 24 % this year compared to last year to a below-average 125,157 tonnes. This is the lowest harvest in six years. Compared to the average harvest of

"Demand for leeks in the UK is steady, possibly increasing"
The leek harvest got underway this week at Seddon and Sons in Lancashire and a good crop is expected. “We are about a week later than normal,” said James Seddon who looks after agronomy and

An association for retail women
The Associazione Nazionale Donne del Retail (National Association of Women in Retail) is born in Milan, which will act with the aim of promoting the culture and knowledge of Retail with an

"Limited blueberry volumes in switch from early to mid varieties"
In Belgium, the erratic spring will probably cause limited blueberry volumes between the early and mid varieties. That is according to Coöperatie Hoogstraten's Hannah Docus. "The early varieties

Argentinian phytosanitary alert in for the Tomato Brown Rugose Fruit Virus
The National Agricultural Health Service of Argentina (Senasa) has issued a phytosanitary alert for the entire national territory for the Tomato Brown Rugose Fruit Virus (ToBRFV), a virus that

Rijk Zwaan bets on the future of aubergines in Sicily
Sicilian producers must adopt new techniques for winter aubergine cultivation if they want to counter the growing trend of foreign imports, if they do not want to risk being denied access to the

Cal Poly Strawberry Center and USDA receive funding to automate California strawberry farming
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s Strawberry Center and the USDA Research Agency recently received a federal grant to focus on tools to help automate strawberry farming in California. The Strawberry

Netherlands/Belgium: Growing concern about the apple blossom weevil
According to a report by vilt.be, fruit growers in various parts of the Netherlands have recently increasingly found that large parts of their apple crops have been destroyed by the apple blossom

Eurosemillas unveils LUNA ucr avocado
At the end of June, Eurosemillas presented the new variety of avocado launched by the international Green Motion Avocados platform. The new variety, called BL516, type B flower, is patented under

"This artwork lets us translate our identity to the packaging"
Some collaborations are not obvious. Such is the case in Haspengouw, Belgium, where the Hellingenfort cherry farm joined forces with Dutch writer and singer Rick de Leeuw and his partner Maartje

A total of 780,000 tonnes of German carrots were harvested last year
The carrot is finally in season again in Germany. And this was celebrated on 1 July 2023 with a big season opening at the Abenhardt farm in Datteln. The carrot is the most harvested vegetable in

Illegal table grapes from Egypt seized and destroyed by Italian authorities
Grapa Varieties, successfully uncovered and halted the illegal shipment from Egypt to Italy, of their proprietary white seedless grape variety, Early Sweet™, hailing it as “a major victory for

Op Primo Sole fruit returns to Sonic Park
Melons, mini watermelons, nectarines and extracts from Op Primo Sole are ready to play a starring role at Sonic Park, the music festival to be held in the city of Matera and featuring artists of

Potatoes, framework agreement signed for Emilia Romagna
The producers' association AgriPat, the agricultural marketing cooperatives Apofruit Italia, Cico, Patfrut, the traders, Baschieri Rino s.r.l., Fuitem & Orsini Fruttaexport s.r.l., Leonesi s.r.l,

Dream pixels: €2.50/kg in the countryside
For the tomato it is a magical moment, indeed a historic one, given the quotations that are breaking all records. In fact, no insider remembers such high quotations at the beginning of July, when

"The development of Chinese cherries has impacted imports of cherries from Central Asia"
Central Asian cherries entered the Chinese market for the first time in 2019. The origins include Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, with Uzbekistan having the largest production and import

Lofty initial prices for raspberries, peak production expected in August
In the northern Italian region of Piedmont, the raspberry harvest started in May. "Our plants are reflorescent, which means we will have about a two-week break between the first harvest cycle in

Strawberries picked, but plantations need attention (plantation monitoring, 5.07.2023)
Strawberries are already harvested, at least on most plantations. Those plots that go under the plough after harvesting are one thing, but a large proportion of plots are left for the next season

Portuguese authorities arrest 24 suspects as cocaine is found in acai berry shipment
A number of actions have been carried out over recent months in Brazil, Spain and Portugal to target the members of this highly professional criminal syndicate. In May, coordinated raids were

Tomra unveils new research orchard
Tomra Food has revealed the first details about its new research orchard in New Zealand set to enhance the company’s fruit science programme and improve its sorting and grading solutions. The

Worldwide orange juice availability has declined by 10 to 12% this season
Worldwide availability of orange juice (OJ) has declined by 10% to 12% this season (2022–23) compared to the prior season, economist Marisa Zansler told the Florida Citrus Commission (FCC) in

SanLucar lists "Sweet Sense" papayas from the Canary Islands
The Canary Islands, where the papayas are grown, offer an ideal sub-tropical climate with year-round temperatures between 18ºC and 28ºC for the growth of the melon tree. "The high humidity and