FRUIT SHORTAGE

Grey River Argus, 24 February 1947, Page 3

FRUIT SHORTAGE

Decrease in Yields GROWTH OF DIRECT BUYING There is an acute shortage of fresh fruit on the Auckland market. This is due firstly to the lateness of an unfavourable season; secondly to decreased yields both in the Auckland Province and Hawke’s Bay; and, thirdly to a great increase in buyng by the public over the farm gate. The third factor has been wrongly labled “black marketing.” The grower has the right to sell at wholeale prices two cases of fruit to any lerson for private consumption. A survey of th 2 apple crop M th n rovince decline from -ast season. Fo'sHiS season the vied has been estim rW at 228,310 busht.sl, as against 268,352 bushels for last season, a drop of 40,042 Ijusiiels. Pears are up by 14,453 bushels, the figures being 41,365 bushels for the current season, as apain-t 26,912 bushels for 1945-46. On the other hand, peaches have declined from 5-8,670 bushels to 54,300 bushels, a decrease of 4370 bushels, plums from 38,780 bushels to 33,430 bushels, a difference of 5350 bushels. The icsition is agravated by the even steeper drop in the Hawke's Bay crop, which is a supplementary source of supply for the Auckland metropolitan area. An indication of the scarcity of fruit on the Auckland market is provided by the quantiy of apples marketed this season up to the end of last week. The total to that date was about 1,400 bushels as against 12,000 bushels for the corresponding period last year. It is true that the season has been unduly late, but this fact by no means accounts for the whole of the disparity. It happens that the grower has a more attractive alternative market.

This year there have been more sales over the farm gate than in any year since the outbreak of the war. Since the lifting of petrol restrictions the range of the motor-car has increased and since the fruit season opened the orchards of the hinterland have sold many hundreds of cases of fruit to passing motorists. This is a legitimate trade, and is the resumption of a well-established practice. Under the marketing regulations the grower is allowed to sell two cases of fruit to any person for private consumption and is allowed to charge the wholesale price. It may be that a higher price is sometimes charged or offered, but that is a point which has to be proved. There is no doubi however, that the, volume of trad? on this basis has been phenomenal. By selling at the gate for the wholesale price the grower eliminates the incidental marketing charges, such as commission and freight, and obtains a higher net return for his product. It is significant that some growers are advertising their fruit for sale, and persons who wish to buy twocas'e lots have the right to have them transported to their homes. The growers complain that the prices they are receiving for apples, an avbrage of about 7s a case, is not sufficient to make this crop a payable one, and* they have made representations to the Price Tribunal and the Stabilisation Commission for an increase. Certainly there are distinct signs that apples are going oul of favour as a crop, and the longterm position may be serious. During the war years there were practically no replacements of declining trees, and generally growers at present are looking for alternative varieties of fruit to replace their apple trees. The effect of this trend will be cumulative, and in a few years, if this policy continues, there will be real shortages of apples, even in the most favourable seasons. The small increa'sees vViiich the growers have received for apples during the war years have been for specific purposes, such as increases in labour costs, and. they claim that, they have not shared in the general rises in renumeration which have been gained by other sections of the community. They contend, on the evidence of the Fruitgrowers’ Federation, that they could obtain up to 15s a case for apples abroad. and that the disparity besween ti>c internal stabilised price and the export price is greater than any other producer has to bear. There is r-o doubt that there will be a marked decline in apple produj-'on if the present position continues.