Fruit growers are expecting smaller harvests of apples and pears this year, sector organisation Groentenfruithuis and fruit-growers association NFO have said.

According to Groentenfruithuis figures, the apple yield will be 12% down on last year, partly because of an invasion of the apple blossom beetle which feeds on the flower buds in spring.

Some 207 million kilos of apples will be harvested in the Netherlands in 2023 and 341 million kilos of pears.

Elstar is the most widely grown apple, accounting for 40% of the total yield, followed by Jonagold with 50 million kilos.

With 262 million kilos, Conference pears make up three-quarters of the total pear harvest, which is down 2% on last year.

Last year the export of Dutch apples and pears was impacted by the trade sanctions against Russia, causing prices to drop at home. It is not yet known how the sanctions will affect this year’s export figures.