Andalusia's Councillor of Agriculture, Elena Víboras, who recently visited the facilities of the Agricultural Processing Society Guadex S.L., announced that a 10.4% increase in production volumes is expected this year; leading the sector's entrepreneurs to fear price drops during a season which was already burdened by delays and smaller calibres.
Víboras emphasised the strength of Andalusia's agriculture, although she added that "it is necessary for the sector to improve its profit margin." In turn, the Councillor called upon the Permanent Citrus Bureau. Víboras reminded that Andalusia's citrus makes a total of 681 million Euro in revenue, which accounts for 7% of the region's agriculture and 14,000 jobs. As for Cordoba, the value of production is 69 million Euro; 5.5% of the province's agricultural income.
However, citrus producers pointed out, after years of poor profitability, the campaign ahead appears to be a difficult one, as larger production volumes are not in favour of good prices.
Regarding Guadex, the entity made an investment of 12 million Euro with an excess of 2.6 million provided by Andalusia's Government. Guadex is currently commercialising 45,000 tonnes of oranges, 2,500 of stonefruit and 250 of asparagus, with 80% of its production being exported to approx 20 countries.
Source: diariocordoba.com
Source: diariocordoba.com