In the Centre region and Aquitaine, these temperatures lead to fruit drop. The harvest in Aquitaine will be 25% below that recorded last year. Acreage has decreased by 3% and 5% in the Pays de la Loire and the Languedoc-Roussillon. Production will respectively decrease by 5% and 4%. However, production in the Rhone-Alpes, PACA and Midi-Pyrénées should be close to that of 2015.
According to Agreste, the 2016 apple harvest should reach 1,504,000 tons, 6% below that of 2015. The Minister of Agriculture states that “orchards have a one to two week delay in vegetation compared to a normal year,” due to the cold weather at the end of the spring.
