China to see bumper garlic harvest in 2013-14

US-based garlic importer I Love Produce made this forecast, with the company’s president Jim Provost claiming that a large part of the crop has come on the back of a 20 per cent rise in planting area and a 10-15 per cent spike in yields.

Provost said, “This year was a convergence of not only the amount of acreage planted, but also of higher yields. The combination of the two has led to the biggest crop in four years.”

Provost added that the net increase in yields is expected to be in the range of one million to 1.5mn metric tonnes. It is not a record crop, however, but more of a return to a typical crop.

He said, “There is an excess of last year’s garlic from China on the market right now as importers are cleaning up old inventories in anticipation of the largest new crop in four years.” Provost pointed out that in the last three years Chinese garlic had remained in tight supply.

Provost said, “This year will be an entirely different deal and garlic will be at least 30 per cent cheaper on average.”