La Unió expects citrus production report to increase prices at source

Yesterday, La Unió de Llauradors (The Union of Farmers) stated that the data from the citrus production report should serve to develop the campaign properly and to increase prices in the countryside. The report, which had been interrupted in 2007, was presented by the Ministry of Agriculture.

In a statement, the farmer organization thanked the Ministry for issuing the report again with transparency and more data about the varieties and the provinces. The absence of this report, they stated, has mainly hurt producers because they were lacking a useful tool that allowed them to know what the existing production was so they could take the most appropriate marketing decisions.

According to the report, citrus production is expected to amount to 3,052,252 tons, 22% lower than in the previous year (-25.2% in Castellon, -24.6% in Alicante, and -20.4% in Valencia ), mainly because of the high temperatures between May and July, especially in the west, two days before the first month.

Limes had the biggest drop with 28.5%, followed by mandarins with 23.3% and oranges with 20.3%. The surface devoted to citrus crops decreased 3,330 hectares, i.e. 2%, mainly in the province of Valencia due to the change to other crops such as persimmon or pomegranate. According to the association, "producers should be able to obtain a decent price for their crops this campaign, as their yields will be significantly lower than the average of the past ten years."

Source: lasprovincias.es