English cherry growers hopes of a record season of 4,000 metric tons (MT) have been dashed due to the prolonged wet weather with a halving in volume projections.

This season was meant to have seen a jump from last year's 2,500MT as new orchards came on stream for harvest but cold frosty weather during blossoming in April as well as recent rain has caused a lot of splitting.

It is estimated smaller growers whose orchards were uncovered may have lost up to 80% of their crop. Larger growers who covered trees are expected to see yields reduced to between 20-30%.

Marketer and distributor Total Cherry director Jon Clark, said an important lesson had been learnt about the need to protect orchards from the rain.

"Although there is a high cost in covering orchards, it's a valuable investment and you will see an increase of this in the near future."

Usually the season runs from mid-June until early to mid-August, however, this year commercial pickings only started in week 28 and are expected to finish within the next few weeks.

This year's weather is a major blow for the industry, which had invested significantly in new plantings in the south of England.

Supermarket chainTesco said it had been working closely with growers, encouraging plantings of the dwarf root stocks which are easier to harvest than traditional trees.

The retailer's stonefruit buyer Marie-Claire Lisk said England's three most popular varieties - Penny, Regina and Kordia - were renowned for being sweeter than their European rivals.

"Shoppers tell us that they like British cherries best but demand far exceeds supply at the moment, which is why we’ve been working with growers on a major planting programme to increase volume."

Tesco estimates by the end of the decade English growers should be able to meet U.K. consumers' current annual summer consumption of 9,600MT.

Total Cherry has 25,000 new cherry trees planted in the county of Kent, which should start bearing fruit for harvest next year.

Clark said he was hoping forecasts of sunnier weather in time for the Olympics, which start on July 27, would come true.

"Warmer weather will help the sugar levels increase. I hope it comes, it will help us, cherries are very dependent on the weather."

www.freshfruitportal.com