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Agricultural Survey: Apples and Pears, Australia, Preliminary 2004-05

Apples

Preliminary estimates indicate an improvement on the previous drought affected year. The number of apple trees increased by 5% from the previous year to 11 million in 2004-05. An increase in tree numbers was reported in the main growing state of Victoria, up by 16% to 4.1 million trees and in Tasmania, up by 6% to 1.5 million trees and in South Australia, up by 5% to 1.4 million trees.

The production of apples increased by 30% from the previous year to 330,200 tonnes in 2004-05. Favourable conditions were experienced by growers in most states with some reporting significant production increases from the previous year. Victoria, the main producing state, reported a substantial increase with apple production up 50% to 126,000 tonnes. New South Wales, Tasmania and South Australia also reported significant increases with production up by between 33 and 46 percent.

Pears

Preliminary estimates showed the number of pear trees remained stable at 2.0 million in 2004-05. Pear tree numbers in Victoria, the main growing state, were unchanged at 1.6 million trees.

The production of pears increased by 5% from the previous year to 149,750 tonnes in 2004-05. Victoria remained by far the largest producing state with an increase of 6% in the production of pears, up to 131,700 tonnes.


Table 1: Apples(a)

	Australia			2005p
	2003	2004	2005p	NSW	Vic.	Qld	SA	WA	Tas.	NT	ACT
NUMBER OF TREES ('000)
Trees under 1 year	365	253	310	48	96	15	69	19	63	nc	-
Trees 1 to 3 years	1 455	1 368	1 307	201	591	111	195	79	131	nc	-
Trees 4 years and over	8 391	8 885	9 431	1 849	3 416	805	1 177	896	1 286	nc	2
Total number of trees	10 211	10 505	11 048	2 098	4 102	931	1 441	994	1 480	nc	3
PRODUCTION OF FRUIT (fresh weight) ('000 t)
Total production	326	255	330	66	126	25	29	34	49	nc	-
Yield (kg/tree)(b)	39	29	35	35	37	31	25	38	38	nc	15
- zero or rounded to zero nc not collected p preliminary (a) Where figures have been rounded, discrepancies may occur between sums of the component items and totals. (b) Yield represents the quantity of fruit produced per tree of bearing age, i.e. 4 years and over.

	Australia			2005p
	2003	2004	2005p	NSW	Vic.	Qld	SA	WA	Tas.	NT	ACT
NUMBER OF TREES ('000)
Trees under 1 year	87	38	43	1	32	-	3	5	1	nc	-
Trees 1 to 5 years	268	297	279	1	200	11	20	41	6	nc	-
Trees 6 years and over	1 667	1 724	1 732	26	1 409	16	96	162	22	nc	-
Total number of trees	2 022	2 059	2 054	28	1 641	28	119	209	29	nc	-
PRODUCTION OF FRUIT (fresh weight) ('000 t)
Total production	140	142	150	1	132	1	7	9	1	nc	-
Yield (kg/tree)(b)	84	82	86	27	93	44	71	56	37	nc	21
- zero or rounded to zero nc not collected p preliminary (a) Where figures have been rounded, discrepancies may occur between sums of the component items and totals. (b) Yield represents the quantity of fruit produced per tree of bearing age, i.e. 6 years and over.