The general director of Agro-food Industry and Agricultural Training, Ángel García Lidón, highlighted the increasing move towards the export market of Murcia's lemon production, which, as he stated, "have been growing in popularity in the foreign markets since the 2004-2005 campaign," according to a statement from the regional Government.
Murcia is the country's largest exporter for this crop. In the 2011-2012 campaign, 84% of the regional production was exported to countries within the European Union. The main clients were, in this order, Germany, France, Poland, the UK and Italy, which received 78% of the region's lemon production last year.
The Region of Murcia has 22,771 hectares of lemon plantations, of the Fino (79%) and Verna (21%) varieties, which represent 58% of Spain's total acreage (40,801 hectares). The production of lemons concentrates mainly in the regions of Vega del Segura, Valle del Guadalentín and Campo de Cartagena, and to a lesser extent, in Altiplano and Río Mula.
García Lidón stressed that Murcia's plantations "are adapted to the market's demands and obtain products of exceptional quality." In this sense, he mentioned that, "in recent years, the acreage for Verna lemons has gradually decreased, while that of Fino has expanded, in line with market demand."
In the European Union, the total acreage devoted to lemon growing is 62,855 hectares. Spain is the member State with the largest acreage (63.4% of the total), and the Region of Murcia represents 37% of the European total. Italy comes second, with 16,634 hectares, followed by Greece, with 5,180 hectares.
During the 2011-2012 campaign, the production of lemons in the European Union grew to 1,277,600 tonnes, of which 58% correspond to Spain and 31.5% to the Region of Murcia.
Source: Europapress