A group of farmers from Cieza, in collaboration with the IMIDA (Murcia's Agricultural and Environmental Research and Development Institute), has launched an initiative to market a new class of apricot that aims to gain competitiveness in the markets.
According to Santiago Martinez Gabaldon, the president of Fecoam, this new apricot is a red-colored mid-season product that was obtained after grafting some nine-year-old donut peach trees. On Tuesday, Martinez Gabaldo and the Minister of Agriculture, Antonio Luengo, visited the experimental farm where this planting was started, located in the area of the Fuente del Peral. "We still don't know how it fares in bad weather, which is another aspect to take into account," said Gabaldon. "What we do know is that Europeans love this red fruit, not the yellow-skinned apricot. They don't consume that one," he said.
Producers have already started to harvest the apricots, which will be exported to European countries such as the Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium.
Source: laverdad.es