Pear Export Issues

Pear Export Issues. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Fruit Grower Report.

Mike Willett, Vice President for Scientific Affairs of the NW Horticultural Council recently chatted with tree fruit growers about some of the pear export issues in the top 10 export markets.

WILLETT: In those top 10 markets I broke it down into three areas, pest problems – in other words phytosanitary problems, pesticide issues which have become a bigger problems in the past few years and then newer issues such as tariffs that have become a bigger problem just in the last year or so.

He says that there are a number of issues in various export countries that producers have to deal with.

WILLETT: For example in Brazil making sure you can meet the requirements for treating the pears to eliminate the fire blight bacteria has been a little bit of a struggle given the way that the quarantine wording was issued to us by Brazil but people have pretty much figured it out.

There are also codling moth issues in other markets but Willett said one of the main challenges is China.

WILLETT: China really is a market that is not in the top 10 because we can’t export pears to China yet but the folks at Pear Bureau Northwest think that this is really potentially a great market for northwest pears so we’re working to try and access that market.

China grows a significant amount of pears and does export 2 varieties to the U.S. More with Mike Willett tomorrow.

That’s today’s Fruit Grower Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.