According to the "Annual Report on Stone Fruits in China" issued by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) on July 1, China's peach and nectarine production is expected to rebound to 16 million tons in 2021/22, which is an increase compared to the previous season's poor harvest due to frost. Nearly 7%.
China's peach and nectarine plantations are slowly shrinking due to weak market returns, the report said. The planting area of peach and nectarine in 2021 / 22 is about 850000 ha, which is slightly lower than that of the previous year. Nearly 70% of the domestic peaches are white. In recent years, in order to meet the market demand, people have planted more yellow peach and nectarine varieties, such as "doughnut" nectarine. In addition, a small number of greenhouse grown peaches and nectarines in northern China have extended the growing season.
Young consumers pay more attention to fruit appearance and crisp taste, while southern and elderly consumers prefer juicy peaches, the report said. New varieties such as doughnut nectarine and yellow nectarine are becoming more and more popular, and local characteristic varieties such as Wuxi honey peach are also attracting consumers. In addition, more and more fruits are sold online, especially high-end stone fruits.
This season, China has resumed fruit exports to Kazakhstan (the main buyer of Chinese peaches and nectarines). It is expected that China's exports of peaches and nectarines will rebound to 100,000 tons in fiscal year 2021/22, an increase of 25% over the previous year. . Kazakhstan suspended the import of fruits from China, including stone fruits, from China on March 5, 2020, due to the detection of quarantine pests during fruit transportation. Although the import ban was lifted at the end of April 2020, China has not exported peaches or nectarines to Kazakhstan in 2020/21.