The latest “Stone Fruit Annual” report, published in July by the Foreign Agricultural Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, forecasts that the production and imports of cherries in China will increase in this market season.
According to the report, cherry production in China is expected to rise by 6% in the 2024/25 marketing year, reaching 850,000 tons. The increase is attributed to the expansion of the cultivated area for cherries and higher fruit yields. Consumption is also expected to rise, thanks to improved stocks.
An increase in sales of imported cherries is also anticipated, particularly those that are off-season from Southern Hemisphere countries, thanks in large part to increased marketing activities in lower-tier cities.
It is projected that imports will rise to 420,000 tons this season, primarily due to intensified marketing efforts by exporting countries. The increase in imports can be mainly attributed to the rise in supply from Chile, the leading supplier, whose cherry production is expected to double in the coming years due to expanded cultivated areas, according to industry sources.
Chinese imports of cherries from the United States, the leading supplier from the Northern Hemisphere, are also expected to continue increasing in MY 2024/25. Industry sources indicate that the anticipated rise in production, with fruits of suitable size and brix level, will attract the attention of Chinese buyers.
Cherry imports from the United States experienced a strong rebound in MY 2023/24 compared to MY 2022/23, when low temperatures had drastically reduced exportable supplies.
The spread of the fruit throughout the country has slowed, and the cultivated area has stabilized in traditionally cherry-producing provinces such as Liaoning and Shandong, after the central government introduced policies to regulate agricultural land use.
The growth rate has slowed, but it is expected that the cultivated area for cherries in China will continue to increase. The area cultivated with cherries is projected to rise from 193,000 hectares in the 2023/24 season to 199,000 hectares in the 2024/25 season.
Although drought persists in some northern regions of China, including major cherry-producing provinces, fortunately, the cherry season in most northern areas ended before the drought worsened, meaning that adverse weather will only affect late-maturing cherries.
A growing number of farmers are dedicating themselves to this fruit, thanks to the high market returns of cherry cultivation. Farmers in Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Sichuan, Guizhou, and Yunnan are encouraged to plant more cherries in mountainous or hilly areas.
Industry reports show that greenhouse cherry production has rapidly developed in cold and high-altitude areas such as Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Heilongjiang, and Tibet. The percentage of greenhouse cherry production in Dalian has reached nearly 50%, but most cherries in the country are still grown in the open field.
For this reason, according to local farmers in Shandong, the Yantai government currently provides a subsidy of $10,417 per hectare to farmers for constructing rain shelters on cherry crops.
According to industry sources, cherry growers, especially those in traditionally producing provinces such as Liaoning and Shandong, are actively replacing old cherry varieties like Red Lantern with market-preferred ones like Russian No. 8.
Read the full article: Fresh Fruit Portal
Image: Food Industry Network
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