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Sales of fruits and vegetables by Canadian farmers amounted to $1.4 billion in 2010, down by 2.4% from 2009.
The vegetable industry, which represented 53.9% of total fruit and vegetable sales, accounted for just over one-half of the annual decline.
Vegetable growers reported sales amounting to $769 million, down 2.4% from 2009, while fruit sales declined 2.3% to $659 million.
A decline in demand for vegetables from the processing market was almost entirely responsible for the drop in sales. This was especially the case for tomatoes where sales fell by 21.3%, green peas (-41.9%) and cucumbers (-31.5%).
Most of the decline in fruit sales occurred in apples (-18.3%) and cranberries (-21.6%). However, blueberry sales rose (+43.0%), partly because producers received better processing prices in 2010.
Farmers in two provinces – Ontario and Quebec – accounted for more than 80% of vegetable sales. The vast majority of fruit sales came from three provinces: British Columbia (41.9%), Ontario (28.8%) and Quebec (16.5%).
Farmers planted 530,723 acres in fruits and vegetables, a 4.9% decline from 2009. Vegetable area fell by 4.0%, with green peas responsible for the largest drop (-59.0%), followed by sweet corn (-15.4%). The main factor was a reduction in contracts for the processing market.
Production of fruits and vegetables fell 6.5%. Three crops accounted for most of the decline: apples (-38.0%), tomatoes (-16.0%) and sweet corn (-10.7%). On the other hand, production of carrots rose 11.5%, while production of peppers was up 9.6%.
Farmers planted 281,962 acres in fruit in 2010, down 5.8% from 2009. Blueberries accounted for 56.0% of this acreage, followed by apples at 15.9% and vinifera grapes at just under 10%. Except for sour cherries, nectarines and other fruit which showed some increases, almost all fruit crops had less planted area.
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