10 World’s Biggest Producers of Plum

10 World’s Biggest Producers of Plum- According to FAO Statistics (FAOSTAT) Database, there are 10 World’s Biggest Producers of Plum.  These countries have huge production of plum fruits in 2021. Nutritionally, based on Food Data Central (USDA), this fruit has a large number of vitamins and minerals that are good for the body, namely vitamins A, C, B1, B2, B3, B6, B9, B12, K, fiber, potassium, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, iron, and zinc. Based on the processing methods, plum can used to make jam, juice liquor, and brandy. Besides, this can be used for medicinal purposes as a laxative.

Taxonomically, Plum can be classified into Subdivision: Spermatophyte; Class: Magnoliopsida; Superorder: Rosanae; Order: Rosales; Family: Rosaceae; Genus: Prunus.  Due to its classification into Rosaceae family, plum has close relationship with including various edible fruits, namely apples (Malus domestica), pears (Pyrus L.), quinces (Cydonia oblonga), raspberries, blackberries (Rubus subg. Rubus), strawberries (F. × ananassa), Peach (Prunus persica) and almonds (Prunus dulcis). Along with the development of beeding and introduction methods. The plum has diverse of cultivars. Based on the cultivars, commonly, there are some plums that has mostly planted in the World. These include Damsons, Prune plums, Victoria plums, Mirabelles, Myrobalan / cherry plums, and Greengages.

The World’s Harvested Areas, Production and Yield of Plum

Statistically, based on th FAOSTAT, world’s production plum has increased steadily over time. In 1980, the world’s production of Plum is just 5.9 million tons with harvested areas around 631 thousand hectares. Furthermore, in 2021, the world’s production of plum reached 12 million tons with harvested area around 2.6 million hectares. Based on yiel, the productivity/ yield has relatively decreased with 9.5 tons/ hectare in 1980 and it went down into 4.6 tons/ hectare. Probably, along with the growth of human population, the increasing demand of plum over the time can influence the production of the plum. The positive benefit and nutritious content of this fruits makes these fruits still popular in some regions.

The Production of Plum Based on Continent

Based on continent regions, the main production area of Plum in 2021 are in some areas. Particularly, Asia still becomes centre of plum with production of plum around 7.8 million tons.  Furthermore, after Asia, the main production areas are in Europe and America. Both of Europe and Americas can produce around 2.7 million tons and 896 thousand tons, respectively. Meanwhile, Africa can produce 480 thousand tons of plum and Oceania can produce around 19 thousand tons.

Based on the country’s production, there are 10 World’s Biggest Producers of Plum in 2021. Here is the rank of 10 World’s Biggest of Plum. All this data was obtained from FAO Statistics (FAOSTAT).

The Rank of 10 World’s Biggest Producers of Plum

Brief Description of 10 World’s Biggest Producers of Plum

1.China, mainland         

China still becomes the biggest producer of Plum fruit in 2021. According to FAOSTAT, the production of plum from China reached 6,615,469 tons. Geographically, in China, Fujian Province has become a major plum production region in China. Furthermore, Fujian also has more than 700 years of production history of plum.  Along with development of plum cultivations, there are some cultivars that was planted in China. Some of them are Crown, King, Oishi Wase, Red Heart, Friar, Black Amber, Zaohuang, Xugua, Santa Rosa, Wickson, Hou, Furong, Taiyo, Angeleno, Quihong, Erhuang, Akihime and others (Wu et al., 2018).

2.Romania        

Romania is the 2nd biggest producer of Plum in 2021. According to FAOSTAT, the production of plum from achieved 807,170 tons. Geographically, based on the districts, the plum culture in Romania located in some areas including Arges, Valcea, Olt, Bihor, Salaj, Dambovita, and Caras Severin. Genetically, in Rumania, there are some cultivars of plums, namely Tuleu Gras, Grase Romanesti, and Vinete Romanesti (Coman et al., 2012).

3.Chile 

Chile Is the 3rd biggest producer of Plum in 2021. According to FAOSTAT, the production of Plum reached 426,776 tons. Geographically, the growing region of plum in Chile distributed mostly in O’Higgins, Metropolitano, and Valparaiso Region. Furthermore, Genetically, in Chile, there are some varieties, namely Angeleno, Larry Ann, Black Amber, Candy Stripe, Dapple Dandy, and Lemon Plum.

4.Serbia             

Serbia is the next biggest producer of Plum in 2021. According to FAOSTAT, the production of Plum from Serbia achieved 412,778 tons. Basically, cultivation of plums has always been one of the most crucial parts of Serbian agriculture. Geographically, the growing region of plum in Serbia can be found in Šumadija. Genetically, in Serbia, there are some cultivars that has been planted. Some of them are Požegača, Stanley, Čačanska lepotica, and Čačanska rodna (Matković., 2015). Functionally, in Serbia, some production of Plum can be processed into rakija (one of the most popular drinks in Serbia).

5.Iran (Islamic Republic of)        

Iran Is one of the biggest producers of Plum in 2021.  Statistically, the production of Plum from Iran achieved 388,243 tons. Geographically, some of cultivation of plum in Iran distributed in Tehran and Gilan Provinces. Genetically, in Iran, there are some popular varieties of plum. Some of them are Bokhara plum, Karaj blackplum, Arak yellow plum, Baraghan prune (GojeBaraghan) and Sadie Uremia prune (Goje Sadie Uremia)(Khoshkhui et al., 2004).

6.Türkiye           

Türkiye also has huge production of Plum. According to FAOSTAT, the production of Plum from Türkiye achieved 332,533 tons. Geographically, in Turkiye, the main growing areas of plum can be located in Mediterranean, Marmara, and Aegean regions (Bolat et al., 2015). Genetically, in Turkiye, some of the plum cultivars that are planted, namely Santa Rosa, Formosa, Black Beauty, Black Amber, Black Diamond, Göynük, Karagöynük, Köstendil, Udžryani, Reine Claude Verte, R.C.Violet and Giant.    

7.United States of America        

United States of America (USA) also produce thousands of tons of plum in 2021. According to FAO Statistics (FAOSTAT), the production of Plum from United States of America (USA) reached 277,150 tons. Geographically, in United States of America, the growing areas of plum are in  Ohio, Alabama, California. Overall, California still becomes the main states that has highest production plum than other states in USA (Lazicki et al., 2016). Commonly, some of the plum that can be found in USA are European (Prunus domesticus), Japanese (Prunus salicina), and American Plum (Prunus americana).

8.Russian Federation    

Russian Federation is the 8^th biggest producer of Plum in 2021. According to FAOSTAT, the production of Plum from Russia reached 197,700 tons. Geographically, Some of the cultivation areas of plum located in Middle Volga region and the Samara region  Some of the plum that can be found in USA are European (Prunus domesticus),  Japanese (Prunus salicina), and American Plum (Prunus americana). Genetically, some cultivars of the plum that can be found in Russia, namely Mara, Naydena, Kuban Comet,Kompotnaya, Nyadarnaya, Poselkovskaya, Dolgojdannaya and Giantess (Minin et al., 2020).

9.Ukraine          

Ukraine is 9^th biggest producer of plum in 2021. Statistically, the production of Plum from Ukraine achieved 188,300 tons. Geograhically, Some of the cultivation areas of plum in Ukraine can be found in Kyiv, Cherkasy, Odessa, Kharkiv, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Vinnytsia (Kutsenko et al., 2019). Commonly, venherka is one of the plums that can be found in Ukraine.

10.Spain            

Spain is European country that also has huge production of Plum in 2021. Based on the FAOSTAT database, the production of plum from Spain reached 179,320 tons. Geographically, Some of the growing areas of plum in Spain ,namely  Extremadura, Andalusia, and Murcia.

Bibliography of 10 World’s Biggest Producers of Plum

Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS). 2023. Prunus domestica  L. Accessed via https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=24774#null on May 5th, 2023.

FAOSTAT. 2023. Production/Yield quantities of Plums and sloes in World + (Total). Accessed via https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=24774#null on May 5th, 2023.

Food Data Central.2023. .Plums, raw. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Accessed via https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/169949/nutrients on May 5th, 2023.

Wu, W., Chen, F., Yeh, K. and Chen, J., 2018. ISSR analysis of genetic diversity and structure of plum varieties cultivated in southern China. Biology, 8(1), p.2. DOI: 10.3390/biology8010002.

Coman, M., Butac, M., Sumedrea, D., Dutu, I., Iancu, M., Mazilu, C. and Plopa, C. (2012). Plum Culture In Romania – Current Status And Perspectives. Acta Hortic. 968, 25-32. https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2012.968.2

Matković, M., 2015. Possibilities of plum cultivation in the republic of Serbia. Економика пољопривреде, 62(4), pp.1045-1060.

Khoshkhui M, Shaybani B, Rouhani I, Tafazoli E (2004). Principles ofhorticultural science. Shiraz University press. (In Persian), pp: 417-418.

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Bolat, I., Ak, B.E., Acar, I. and Ikinci, A., 2015, August. Plum culture in Turkey. In III EUFRIN Plum and Prune Working Group Meeting on Present Constraints of Plum Growing in Europe 1175 (pp. 15-18).

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Minin, A.N., Nechaeva, E.K., Markovskaya, G.K. and Stepanova, J.V., 2020. Creation and study of Russian plum varieties in the Middle Volga. In BIO Web of Conferences (Vol. 27, p. 00043). EDP Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1051/bioconf/20202700043

Kutsenko, O.V., Budzanivska, I.G. and Shevchenko, O.V., 2019. Genetic diversity of Plum pox virus in Ukraine. Viruses and Cell, 35(6), pp.476-485.doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.7124/bc.000A1A