According to the forecasts of the International Nuts and Dried Fruits Council (INC), the worldwide nut harvest this season will reach 4.99 million tons – excluding shelled pistachios – 7.99% lower than the 2020/21 harvest.
The harvest in the northern hemisphere is already over. Data for the current 2021/202 season shows that production has grown by 54% in the past decade. INC asserts that there have been disruptions to shipping and logistics this season, which have led to delays and shortfalls in supplies, albeit short-lived.
According to INC’s preliminary calculations, the almond crop (without shell) reached 1.59 million tons (compared to 1.73 million in 2020/21), which is 8% less than last season. This is mainly due to the poor harvest in the United States.
In Spain, the latest forecast from the Ministry of Agriculture indicates a significant decrease in almond yield of 14.6%. Preliminary figures indicate 302,812 tons of blanched almonds, compared to 354,390 tons last year.
INC also reported a drop in nut production, from 1 million tons last season to 984,925 tons this year. This negative development is the result of an average harvest in China, a shorter season in California (after record volume in 2020/21) and smaller quantities in Brazil.
Pistachio production fell from 1.05 million tons in 2020/2021 to 729,300 tons this season, due to a “bad year” in the United States as well as in Iran and Turkey.
INC estimates the yields of cashews (861,390 tons), hazelnuts (541,130 tons) and macadamia nuts (66345 tons) between 3% and 7% higher than last season, while pine nuts (43810 tons) are up 2% due to a good harvest in China and Russia.
Groundnut production, which is housed in a separate category, increased by 2% to 50.5 million tons thanks to increased harvests in Nicaragua (+14%), Brazil (+9%), Nigeria (+8%), China (+4%) and the United States (+2%) and India (+1%).
As for dried fruits, INC calculated that global production will be 3.17 million tons, up 6.4% from last season thanks to much larger quantities of prunes and dried dates and a slight increase in volumes of raisins and dried berries.
Source: agroinformacion.com
