The harvest of the first Basol mandarins of the season has already started, even though the weather conditions have not been ideal.
"This year, we expect a difficult campaign. It has been very hot this summer; there has been a poor fruit setting and we have very little fruit in the trees, and this will take a toll on prices," explains Christian Martínez, of Frulonsa Calidades. "After an initial assessment, I believe that this year there will be about 20% less production than last year in our area," he added.
These conditions, in combination with the scarcity of water in the region of Murcia, will also make it hard to find quality fruit. "There are already some batches of mandarins with no colour inside and which are dry due to the lack of water and high temperatures. At the moment, things aren't looking so good," comments the representative of Frulonsa Calidades.
To make a comparison: "Last year we managed to sell mandarins at origin for between 0.75 and 0.85 Euro per kilo, but this year, prices will range between 0.55 and 0.65 Euro. There has up to a 40% drop compared to last year," concludes Martínez.
For more information:
Christian Martínez
Frulonsa Calidades
Tel. +34 677 39 99 53