Fruit: Trends in Modern Fruit Production and Marketing

In the twentieth century, several factors combined to greatly extend the season of fresh fruits, so that many came to be available year-round. For example, fresh peaches once were sold in the Northeast from late July to October, but the harvest from California and the Southeast arrives starting in April or early May, whereas imports from the Southern Hemisphere fill the market from November to April. Fruit breeders have devised early- and late-maturing varieties that avoid the seasonal peak in volume usually accompanied by low prices and thus bring better returns for farmers. Growers have planted in the earliest and latest maturing districts and used farming practices such as girdling grapevines to manipulate maturity. In addition, handlers have perfected techniques of storing fruit under modified atmospheric conditions (low oxygen and high carbon dioxide), which slows respiratory metabolism, allowing some fruits, such as apples, to be held for a year or more.