YAMAGATA. High temperatures have devastated cherry crops in Yamagata Prefecture this season, leading to the second-smallest harvest of the local specialty since the start of the Heisei Era (1989-2019).
The yield this season is expected to drop below the 9,000-ton mark for the first time in 30 years.
Prefectural government officials reported the state of this season’s cherry production and sales at an Aug. 29 meeting of a council that promotes the brand value of Yamagata cherries.
The council is associated with farmers’ groups, fruit dealers and the prefectural government.
The officials said the estimated yield of 8,700 tons this season was down 33 percent year on year and 35 percent smaller than the average annual harvest.
The annual yield has fallen below 10,000 tons only once over the past decade–9,160 tons in 2021.
And the last time it failed to reach 9,000 tons was in 1994, when it dropped to 8,570 tons.
Sales of cherries by the Yamagata prefectural chapter of the National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations were down 53 percent in volume and 38 percent in value year on year.
By cherry variety, the sales volume plummeted by 56 percent for Sato-Nishiki and by 66 percent for Beni-Shuho year on year.
In mid-May, a crop investigation committee estimated this season’s cherry yield at 12,100 tons, slightly smaller than the average annual crop.
Starting in mid-June, however, temperatures in the prefecture exceeded 30 degrees on many days, causing fruits to ripen too much.
The heat also shortened the harvest time, and the available workforce could not collect all the ripe cherries during the period, officials said.
Representatives of fruit dealers told the Aug. 29 meeting that they have been forced to decline many requests for shipments of Yamagata cherries to destinations outside the prefecture. They worry that buyers may start looking elsewhere for cherries from next year.
The meeting also heard complaints about the way that crop information is released.
Article from https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15409431
