Spain: citrus fruit picking machine the only future

Tholen - The Spanish agricultural organisation Ava-Asaja evaluated the balance for the past year and warns that the citrus sector has to mechanise the harvesting process to remain competitive. The warning was paired with a request to the government to increase the economic resources to further investigate into the possibilities. According to Ava-Asaja, the past year has been the worst in history. The world market for citrus continues to open up, but Valencia is unable to compete with cheaper labour countries in the present circumstances. The only solution is to replace fruit pickers with machines.

Publication date: 22 Dec 2005
Author: Andre van der Wiel
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