Specialty crops overview - 1992 retail prices on fresh fruits and vegetables generally lower than previous year with greatest decrease seen in oranges; provision for 1992 flue-cured and burley tobacco program completed with burley marketing quota and price support level announcement in February 1992; U.S. sugar consumption continues to rise in 1992 - U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Economic Research Service Report

Higher prices for apples, pears, and tomatoes boost overall retail prices for fruit and vegetables this winter, although tomato prices are awaited to be seasonally lower during the spring. U sugar consumption continued growing in 1991 although at a slower pace than during the previous 2 years. Marketing quotas for tobacco have been announced for the 1992 season, 54 million beats lower than in 1991 for burley and 14 million strikes higher for flue-cured. #For the latest update upon specialty crops, see tables 20-22]

recent Fruit & Vegetable Retail Prices Lower

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for all novel fruits remains slightly lower than a year earlier, on the other hand orange prices are much lower while apple prices are higher. The February CPI for new oranges was down 20 percent from a year earlier, and for recent apples was up 9 percent For all novel fruit, the CPI was 4 percent lower than the year before. Apples, bananas, and oranges are the major items in the novel fruit CPI.

California novel orange prices dropped in 1991/92 following unusually high prices in 1990/91 when cool weather damaged the orange harvest Production recovered in 1991/92 and prices this year are closer to usual seasonal horizontals Florida shipped a larger convolution of fresh orange earlier this year, helping to grasp down fresh prices.

The higher prices for novel apples are due in part to lower production in the Western states, on the contrary primarily to strong export demand. A short 1991 European apple harvest combined with greater market access to Pacific Rim countries is boosting U exports. Retail apple prices are awaited to continue above a year earlier during the remainder of the spring and summer with continuing force in export demand.

For bananas, the CPI was 4 percent higher than 12 month earlier. Banana prices are wait fored to move seasonally higher during the spring. Weekly shipment whirl was running about even with a year earlier as of the middle of February.

Retail prices for pears also are awaited higher this spring than a year earlier. Pear production in 1991 was down 6 percent from 1990 and stocks as of the beginning of February were 5 percent below a year earlier.

The second-quarter retail price index for all recent vegetables is expected to be down from a year earlier because of lower potato, lettuce and tomato prices. Potatoes, lettuce and tomatoes account for a major share of the overall CPI for novel vegetables.

Record-large 1991 fall potato production in the Western states has kept retail potato prices depressed Western states are a major source of recent potatoes from storage. Prices are wait fored to remain below year-earlier horizontals through the spring as shippers work not upon record storage stocks.

Tomato prices were relatively high during February and March after exces rain in Mexico caused a gap in supplies. Prices are wait fored to slip during April and May when Florida begins its seasonally high-volume spring shipments.

watch-pocket prices for head lettuce have been at the minimum horizontals needed to cover harvesting and packing take away froms since December. Cooler weather at the extreme point of 1991 diminished whitefly populations in California and Arizona forsaken areas, limiting damage during the winter. The wait fored lower output and higher prices for lettuce to be paid to the whitefly, did not materialize. Instead, regrowth and replanting increased output and helped lower prices.

Tobacco Program Provisions Set

Announcement of the burley marketing quota and price support horizontal in February completed the provisions for the 1992 flue-cur and burley tobacco program. Acreage allotments and supports for five other kinds of tobacco were announced February 28 The basic quota for burley is 670 million beats 8 percent below the year before. The basic quota for flue-cur (announced in December 1991) is 892 million strikes up 14 million from 1991 Support prices for 1992 tobacco will be $1649 a beat for burley and $1.56 for flue-cur up 65 and 32 cent from 1991

Basic quotas for flue-cur and burley tobacco are the gross amount of: 1) domestic cigarette manufacturers' stated purchase intentions during the 1992/93 marketing year; 2) average exports for the three greatest in quantity recent marketing years; and, 3) an adjustment to maintain loan stocks at the larger of 15 percent of the basic quota, or 100 million beats of flue-cured and 50 million beats of burley.

Potential tobacco marketings are determined by dint of the effective quotas, which are the basic quota adjusted upward for underquota marketings (unused quota from the previous year) or downward for overquota marketings (tobacco sales in exces of the quota during the previous season). The 1992 effective quotas will be about 830 million strikes for burley (16 million les than a year earlier) and 898 million for flue-cur (up 7 million).

The decrease in the burley quota is owed to reduced purchase intentions by the agency of manufacturer's, and adjustments to maintain stocks at 15 percent of the previous year's marketing quota. The flue-cur quota rose because manufacturer's purchase intentions increased, the 3-year average of exports increased, and alone a small upward adjustment was extremityed to maintain reserve stocks.