Fruit producers in Portugal and Brazil see production recovery

Fruit producers in Portugal and Brazil are seeing a recovery in production after several years of losses. In Portugal, Rocha pear production is estimated to increase by 13% compared to last year. This growth was slightly tempered by the culling of thousands of trees in the western region due to bacterial fire disease.

In Brazil, apple exports have seen a significant rebound following three seasons of low yields. Favorable winter weather and mild frosts during flowering contributed to a harvest of between 1,000,000 and 1,100,000 tons for packing. However, industry experts note that the lack of domestic market elasticity has forced more fruit into the export market despite falling prices.

Despite the current recovery, producers in both regions remain concerned about climate instability. Frequent extreme weather events, such as late frosts and temperature fluctuations, continue to threaten the ability to achieve sustained growth or reach historical production peaks.