Fruit Production
Fruit crops are generally classified under Top fruit and Soft fruit. The fruit sector in Ireland is valued at E50 million/annum. Soft fruit accounts for E40 million with Top fruit accounting for E10 million. The following crops are of most importance.
- Strawberry
- Apple
- Raspberry
- Other fruit crops
The sector is small and coming under increased pressure as the Irish retail trade is dominated by supermarket chains and multiples and it remains difficult to break into these marketing chains where scale of production is an issue. The formation of producer organisations may have the potential to overcome some of these problems.
Strawberries are still the dominant soft fruit crop with a major shift to producing strawberries under protection in recent years.
Apple production varies year on year due to climatic influences. It includes dessert, culinary and cider apple production.
