Start of the strawberry season in NRW: Minister officially opens the harvest in Wachtberg

Start of the strawberry season in NRW: Minister officially opens the harvest in Wachtberg

The strawberry harvest in North Rhine-Westphalia is slowly picking up speed, and Agriculture Minister Silke Gorißen (CDU) will open the official harvest season for strawberries on April 23 at an orchard in Wachtberg near Bonn. Thanks to the mild temperatures in winter and spring, the strawberry plants have received an early start, and from May 1st, strawberries from domestic cultivation will be available everywhere in the country, according to cultivation consultant Bernd Möllers from the North Rhine-Westphalia Chamber of Agriculture in Münster.

The first fruits come from protected cultivation, which means that the sensitive strawberries mature under a protective cover and are therefore protected from adverse weather conditions such as hail and rain. The yield in the event of protected cultivation is usually higher than in the field, which explains the increasing acreage under film. In contrast, the extension in the field decreased slightly. In the previous year, a total of around 26,000 tons of strawberries were harvested in NRW, which corresponds to a decline of around 8.6 percent compared to the previous year

For everyone who would like to pick strawberries themselves, it will be so far between 15 and 20 May 20, says Möllers. There are around 350 companies in North Rhine-Westphalia that grow strawberries commercially. The strawberry season therefore promises to provide numerous fresh and delicious fruits from regional cultivation for consumers in the coming weeks and months.