The berry and vegetable harvest in South Tyrol has gone well again this year, despite some weather difficulties. The harvest is virtually complete and the managers are putting together a balance sheet for this year. Markus Tscholl, auctioneer at the Egma vegetable auction in Vilpiano reports that, "this year, we have brought 173 metric tonnes more strawberries to the vegetable auction than last year, which is a 33 percent increase. However the raspberry, and especially the cherry produce, suffered in the spring frost." Added to this were the losses caused by the cherry fruit fly, so according to Tscholl only 15 metric tonnes of raspberries (44 percent less than last year) and 33 metric tonnes of cherries (72 percent less) were delivered. However, prices were significantly higher than in 2015.
One fifth less strawberries in Vinschgau Valley
In Vinschgau Valley, the strawberry harvest this year, at 400 metric tonnes, is approximately 20 percent less than the previous year. Although the summer of 2015 was very hot, and therefore the berries ripened much quicker than usual, the temperatures this year proved much better. "The ripening process was a lot more even and therefore the harvest was more drawn out" explains Eberhöfer, business unit leader of VI.P Beeren. "All in all, we are very pleased with the strawberry harvest of 2016", he said, "but we are still hoping to reap larger harvests in the coming years, in order to be competitive".
Largest cauliflower harvest in six years
The vegetable harvest in South Tyrol is also almost over. The cauliflower has once again made up over 95% of the vegetable produce. The crop quantity, according to Reinhard Ladurner, increased by 25% at 2900 metric tonnes - the largest amount in six years. This means that VI.P could avoid supply bottlenecks. Cauliflower from Vinschgau Valley will be exclusively sold on the Italian market this year. Despite high competition in other European cultivation areas, the South Tyrolean vegetable farmers could achieve a very good result due to the very high levels of quality and the drastic market developments.
Potato crop less than in 2015
The potato crop this year has also fallen short of last years harvest, in terms of quantity: despite the acreage remaining the same, the amount has gone from 6,000 metric tonnes last year to 5,330 this year. The reason Hanspeter Felder, Director of the Saatbau cooperative, gives is the weather. In the formative growth phases it was wet and cold, which results in smaller potatoes. "Luckily in the Autumn it was dry again, so the farmers could store their potatoes in favourable weather conditions." said Felder.
