Argentina's Barrera Zoofitosanitary Foundation (FunBaPa) has released statistics showing pear and apple production in the Protected Patagonia region fell 17.25% in 2010 compared to the previous year, with a total of 1.229 million metric tons (MT).

FunBaPa announced apple production was down 22.43% to 622,387MT while pear production was down 11.18% to 607,288MT.

"Some 24.89% of apple volumes were destined for export, 37.16% for the internal market while the rest, 37.95% went to industry," the report said.

"In the case of pears, some 59.89% was destined for export, 14.31% for the internal market and the rest, some 14.31% to industry."

Apples were exported to 52 countries, with Brazil, Russia, Holland and Algeria as the main markets, while significant growth was recorded in exports to the UAE, Canada, Singapore and India. Pears from the region were exported to 60 countries with Brazil, Belgium, Holland, Italy, Russia and the U.S. as the main markets.

The breakdown of the apple variety exports was Red Delicious (46.51%), Gala (26.11%), Granny Smith (14.68%) and Cripps Pink (9.51%), while the main pear export varieties were Williams (41.26%), Packam's Triumph (27.77%) and Beurre D'Anjou (16.27%).

Source: www.freshfruitportal.com