The amount of land dedicated to cherry growing in the Netherlands has almost tripled in the last 24 years but the number of growers has remained the same, national statistics agency CBS has said.

Some 560 hectares of Dutch farmland are now used for cherry trees, compared to 198 hectares in 2000. The increase is mainly due to the introduction of new varieties, the CBS said.

Plum growing has gone down to 260 hectares, a 40% drop on 2010 while the number of hectares per pear grower doubled from 4.8 hectares to 8.7 hectares.

Apples, the most prolifically grown fruit after the pear, remained stable with 5.7 hectares per grower in the same period.

Insecticides

Despite the growth, cherry growers have said their businesses may well disappear if they are not allowed to use insecticides to combat the invasive fruit fly (Drosophila suzukii). The fly is particularly damaging in the wet weather that dominated this year’s growing season although it is not clear to what extent the harvest has been affected.

Growers were given dispensation to use the chemicals this year following a U-turn by the then agriculture minister Piet Adema.

Adema had banned their use following a report from food safety watchdog NVWA which warned that a third of growers were endangering groundwater supplies by applying them too frequently. He relented when MPs protested, saying the “Dutch cherry is part of Dutch culture”.