Erfurt (dpa/th) - The development of the cultivation areas for tree fruit has been different in Thuringia. While the area under cultivation for apples and sour cherries has fallen over the past five years, more sweet cherries and pears are being cultivated, the State Statistics Office said on Friday in Erfurt. According to the information, 55 fruit-growing companies are cultivating a total of 1565 hectares of orchards this year. Compared to the last survey from 2017, this is a decrease of 132 hectares or 7.8 percent.
More than half of the area under cultivation is used for growing apples. The vast majority are table apples, the rest is used for the production of commercial apples. Cherries are grown on almost a third of the total area. Compared to the last survey, the area planted with sweet cherry trees has been expanded. There has been a renewed decline in sour cherries in the past five years. The acreage of pears grew slightly.
