The amount of land dedicated to table grapes in California reportedly declined by less than 1% last year, according to the results of a survey sent in late October. 

The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) and the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) sent a questionnaire to approximately 91,000 raisin, table and wine grape growers.

Producers had six weeks to respond, telephone follow-ups took place, in some cases field personnel visited large growers, and the results were compared with pesticide application data.

The final estimates, published in the "California Grape Acreage Report, 2016 Summary", said the state's total land dedicated to the fruit stood at 897,000 acres.

The majority of this land was dedicated to wine grapes, 123,000 acres were for table grapes (down 1,000 on 2015 but up 2,000 on 2014) and 172,000 acres were for raisin grapes. The latter represents a 7.5% decline on the previous year.

Thompson Seedless was by far the non-wine grape variety with the largest surface area, estimated at 136,873 acres, but it was classified as a raisin-type variety.

In the table grape section, Flame Seedless had the highest acreage at 15,499 acres, followed by Crimson Seedless (9,387 acres), Red Globe (7,923 acres), Scarlett Royal (7,254 acres), Autumn King (6,111 acres) and Sugraone (5,069 acres).

In terms of new table grape plantings, Allison led the way with 344 acres, followed by Scarlett Royal (212 acres), Krissy (190 acres), Timco (188 acres) and Autumn King (181 acres).

Photo: www.shutterstock.com

www.freshfruitportal.com