Friedrichsdorf/Heusenstamm (dpa/lhe) - Dried up orchards, withered leaves on the trees, fallen fruit: despite the unusually dry summer, the cider presses in Hesse are expecting a good harvest this year. "The quality of the apples will be good, the sun has made sure of that, and the wineries won't be able to complain about the quantity either," said the chairman of the Hessian Apple Wine and Fruit Juice Press Association based in Heusenstamm near Offenbach, Martin Heil. the German Press Agency.
According to him, the flowering of the trees in the spring was good. An above-average number of fruits were even produced. However, due to the drought in the summer, many of the still young apples fell off - long before they were ripe. "Therefore, once again our appeal: Every drop of rain, which we hope will fall soon, is good for the apples and under no circumstances should varieties be harvested that are not yet ripe," advised Heil.
The Hessian Farmers' Association, on the other hand, only speaks of a "moderately good harvest", since the yield is comparatively low and many fruits can only be marketed as must fruit. "Young trees in particular have suffered greatly from the drought, there was a lot of sunburn," said a spokeswoman for the association in Friedrichsdorf im Taunus. Dessert apples could therefore primarily only be harvested where the trees were irrigated during the summer.
The annual harvest volumes in Hesse fluctuate greatly anyway. According to the State Statistical Office, fruit growers have imported around 7,400 tons of apples in each of the past three years. A good half of the 2021 harvest was sold as processed fruit and a third as table fruit. The rest was not marketed. In 2018 there was a record harvest of 13,000 tons. In 2017, however, many apple blossoms were destroyed by frost, the harvest was only 4700 tons.
According to the German Weather Service, this summer was the sunniest and driest in Hesse since records began more than 70 years ago.
