Rains continue in Spain and the stonefruit production areas, where the harvest is currently in full swing or are about to start, such as Tarragona, Valencia, Alicante, Murcia, Seville and Extremadura, are reporting damage to the fruit, especially in the case of apricots, cherries and nectarines.
"The damage caused to early apricot varieties in Valencia is very severe, and this, together with the lower production because of the lack of cold during the blooming period, should result in considerable losses. For now, apricots reach retail prices of around 3.80 Euro per kilo," explains Carlos Arenes Alcover, a Valencian stonefruit and citrus grower. "The damage suffered by nectarines is not as severe," he adds.
The producer explains that rainfall is not abundant, but it has been raining for 4 days in a row, with short intervals of sunshine, just at the time when the fruit is gaining colour, which accelerates the fruit's growth and causes the skin to appear torn.
In Extremadura, according to AFRUEX, rainfall has been more abundant, with between 70 and 80 litres per square metre recorded. This has caused delays in the start of the harvest of stonefruit and some cracking in cherries, whose harvest kicked off in early May.
Murcia has also reported some cracking in early apricots and nectarines, although to a lesser extent and depending on the area, according to APOEXPA.
In Tarragona, the leading producer of cherries, CERIMA, has reported that the harvest of the earliest varieties has been almost fully lost, as due to the constant rains, most of the production has been affected by cracking after a significant drop in volumes, which already reached 80%.
"The start of this year's campaign has been very difficult. We have suffered a big blow, although we still have much of the season ahead and we hope the conditions will improve. At the moment, cherry prices are skyrocketing due to the product's shortage," explains CERIMA partner David Manero.
Meanwhile, in Seville, one of the earliest production areas, numerous cases of cracking have been reported to affect apricots, and to a lesser extent, nectarines. "Significant losses have been recorded in Seville affecting certain early apricot varieties. Fortunately for us, we do not have this kind of variety and damage is minimal," affirms Sebástien Adnot, of Primor Fruit.
According to exporters, the demand for fruit in the European markets is on the rise due to the good weather conditions, with moderate prices of around 1.50 Euro per kilo for nectarines and peaches.