Locally grown fresh fruit sold between April and June was almost 20 per cent higher than the same period last year, according the National Statistics Office.

A total of 929 tons were sold through the four official markets in Malta and Gozo in the period under review, which was 18.8 per cent more than in the second quarter last year.

Earlier this month, Times of Malta reported farmers were expecting a good harvest after a number of years in which the volume of Maltese fruit was in decline.

In spite of this abundance, the wholesale value of fruit sold in the second quarter was just 0.2 per cent above last year’s. This meant prices dropped, leading to lower profits for farmers.

Peaches, lemons and strawberries mainly contributed to the increase in production. Production of cherry plums grew by 848 per cent, confirming that the fruit was making a return among local farmers.

Other notable trends were the continued decline in the production of early figs (bajtar), which in recent years fell victim to a pest, and bambinella pears, which dropped by 94 per cent.

On the other hand, production of fresh vegetables declined by 1.1 per cent, with 11.7 tons sold.

Drops were registered in the supply of green onion, tomatoes and potatoes.

The wholesale value of fresh vegetables registered a decline of 14.2 per cent to €4.2 million in the second quarter of the year.

The combined total of fresh fruit and vegetables sold between April and June was the same as last year with 12,605 tons.

However, the wholesale value dropped by 11.4 per cent.