Apple production: area, gross yield, productivity in the world and main countries

Abstract

At present, the location of fruit and berry production in specific regions and countries of the world is determined by natural and climatic conditions and the biological characteristics of the crops concerned. Apples are one of the most important fruits in the world, both in terms of production volume and international trade parameters. For some countries, including Russia, they are the basis for the formation of the corresponding product balance for fruit and berry products. In this regard, the authors set the goal of analyzing the trends in the development of apple orchards for 2011‑2021 in the world as a whole and in the countries ranked in the top 20 by a number of indicators: harvested area of apple orchards, gross yield and productivity. Based on FAO statistics, it was found that over this period, the global harvested area of apple orchards decreased from 4.961 million ha to 4.822 million ha. However, it increased from 0.289 million ha to 0.313 million ha in India, which ranks second behind China, and from 0.188 million ha to 0.225 million ha in Russia (third in this ranking). These three countries will rank first, fifth and seventh in terms of gross apple yield in 2021. At the same time, the production of this seed fruit in Russia increased from 1.198 to 2.216 million tons between 2011 and 2021, i.e. by a factor of 1.85. In terms of productivity, none of these three countries was among the top 20 for this indicator. In order to strengthen Russia’s food security in fruit and berry products, it is necessary to further promote the development of domestic apple horticulture on the basis of intensive technologies.