Based on the data that the Unión de Uniones de Agricultores y Ganaderos has collected from its territorial organizations, the organization forecasts that the citrus harvest will be 5% lower than in the previous season.
According to its initial forecast, production will stand at about 5.64 million tons. This is 5% less than in the 2024/2025 season and nearly 11% less than the average of the last five years.
This decrease is mainly due to weather adversities and the incidence of pests that are difficult to combat, such as Schirtothrips aurantii, the whitefly, the South African cotonet, and the red spider mite, many of them caused by climatic factors. Another factor was the state of the farms at a time of adaptation, when production costs continued to rise.
Producers expect good sizes and quality. The first quotations at source are positive and, given the low supply forecast, Unión de Uniones is confident that there will be no major price fluctuations if demand remains active.
In this sense, the organization emphasizes the need for the processing industry to pay decent prices, especially for fruit affected by hail or with low sizes, in order to provide a viable commercial outlet for the entire crop.
Unión de Uniones urges the competent administrations to act firmly to protect the Spanish citrus sector in an increasingly complex context, with the urgent creation of a line of public aid for the conversion of farms with aged trees.
© Unión de Uniones
The organization also considers it essential to strengthen phytosanitary controls at origin and require cold treatment of all citrus imports, regardless of the country of origin, as a key tool to prevent the entry of new pests and diseases that pose a direct threat to the native crop.
In the same vein, it calls for the revision of the entry price system into the European Union, especially in the case of oranges from Egypt, which currently access the Community market at prices far below the real production and packaging costs of Valencian citrus. This generates unfair competition that puts the economic sustainability of local farms at risk.
"We are facing a short campaign, but with potential if it is managed well. Quality can go hand in hand, but we need institutional support and respect for our crops in the markets," concluded Carles Peris, head of Unión de Uniones' citrus sector. Peris also highlighted the importance of launching consumer promotion campaigns that exalt the benefits of the local product and its properties for a good and complete diet.
For more information:
Unión de Uniones
https://uniondeuniones.org
