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Extreme berry production
By Neil Lyon

Strawberry farming is a rapidly expanding industry in Norway's fruit growing areas.

AT MORE than 60 degrees North, the horticultural districts that hug the edges of the fjords along Norway's south-west coast are the furthest fruit is grown from the equator anywhere in the world.

The equivalent latitude in the Southern Hemisphere is more than half way between Macquarie Island and Antarctica.

In spite of being so far north, Norway's western coastal regions enjoy a relatively mild climate tempered by the Gulf Stream - an Atlantic Ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and flows to northern Europe where it makes the climate warmer than it otherwise would be.

Fruit grower and horticultural consultant, Nils Eldar Linge, oversees a small group of growers near Valldal east of Alesund in one of the northern-most horticulture areas at 62 degrees North.

Fruit and berry growing farms in the area average five hectares and predominantly produce apples, cherries and berries.

About one-third of local production is sold direct into the fresh fruit market and the remainder goes into the processing industry for jam production.

Mr Linge said winters were relatively mild with average temperatures above zero degrees Celsius all year round, and there was no need to protect the trees and vines from frost.

Horticultural consultant, Nils Eldar Linge, with some of the produce from Norway's Valldal district, the northernmost fruit-growing area in the world.

But surprisingly for a country renowned for its abundance of lakes and streams, water is the most limiting factor to production.

"All our fruit growing is dependent on irrigation because it doesn't rain here in the summer," he said.

"We have an annual rainfall average of 1200 millimetres but most of it comes in the winter."

Mr Linge said fruit production in the area was steadily declining, but there had been a dramatic expansion of strawberry production.

One of the main marketing constraints in Norway is the rugged topography and the harsh winter conditions in the mountains which make transporting produce to markets costly and a logistical challenge.