The asparagus and strawberry growers in Brandenburg have had a difficult season. At 18,100 tons, this year’s asparagus harvest is the lowest since 2015, as the Berlin-Brandenburg Statistics Office announced on Wednesday. In addition, the farmers grew grain on less land, but significantly more sunflowers.
The area for the asparagus harvest in the 2022 season was around 3800 hectares at a consistently high level for years. However, the harvest volume fell by 14 percent to 18,100 tons compared to the previous year. The yield per hectare fell by 12 percent to 48 quintals.
The asparagus farmers complained about bad business and a noticeable reluctance to buy. In the 2021 season, around 21,500 tons of the vegetables were harvested in Brandenburg. The federal state is considered to be East Germany’s largest asparagus growing area.
Farmers were also less satisfied with strawberry cultivation. The acreage for outdoor strawberries was around 220 hectares in 2022. That was almost 90 hectares less than in the previous year. The last time so few strawberries were grown outdoors was in 1998.
However, the yield per hectare was 17 percent higher than that of the 2021 season. The area for growing the fruit under protective covers such as under polytunnels and in greenhouses was also reduced by around 5 hectares to around 50 hectares. According to the statistics, the yield was low.
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The statistics office also announced on Wednesday that the cultivation of grain sunflowers increased to 29,600 hectares – that is an increase of 16,600 hectares compared to 2021. According to the Brandenburg Farmers’ Association, almost every second sunflower that grows from a seed in Germany is standing on a Mark field. Sunflower oil imports plummeted as a result of the war in Ukraine.
