Extreme heat causes annual apple and pear crop estimates to drop

EXTREME heat and devastating drought conditions are prompting calls for the annual apple and pear crop estimate to be downgraded — just weeks after its initial release.

Estimates down: Apple and Pear crop estimates are likely to be down due to extreme heat and dry conditions. Picture: Andy Rogers

EXTREME heat and devastating drought conditions are prompting calls for the annual apple and pear crop estimate to be downgraded — just weeks after its initial release.

The estimate initially predicted crops to be up by 8 per cent on last year. But the hottest-ever January recorded in Victoria’s Goulburn Valley, combined with dry conditions at Stanthorpe in Queensland, has driven estimates down.

Fruit Growers Victoria grower services manager Michael Crisera said the Gala Apple variety had been severely affected. “The Goulburn Valley has finished its Gala apple and pear harvest with yield down by about 20 to 40 per cent,” Mr Crisera said. “Granny Smith and Pink Lady varieties remain to be seen.”

“Growers have been using extra water to sustain fruit that hasn’t yet been harvested, paying around $450 a megalitre,” Mr Crisera said.

Apple and Pear Australia chief executive Phil Turnbull said the group were asking the state and federal governments to work together on a national netting program. He said studies show netting can reduce water consumption by up to 20 per cent and protect against conditions including drought, sunburn and hail frost.