Bob Klein is the manager of the California Pistachio Research Board. He noted that hull integrity keeps NOW from entering and damaging the nut. Low hull integrity is a problem.
University of California, Davis Fruit and Nut Center
Pistachio production is expected to increase by 20,000 to 30,000 new acres a year. 2020 was a ‘low-insect, high-quality’ crop year, according to researcher.
Consensus within the $1.6 billion pistachio industry is that 2020 was a “low-insect, high-quality” nut year, says Bob Klein of the California Pistachio Research Board.
Speaking as part of the virtual University of California Advances in Pistachio Production Short Course, Klein said, “We’ve had nearly constant growth in the industry since the late 1960s, after the Kerman cultivar had been released and commercial plantings began. We’ve gone from about 4,500 bearing acres then to pretty close to 335,000 in 2020 with most of the acreage in the southern San Joaquin Valley from Merced south to Kern County where almost all of the large processing plants are located.”