COAG's recent analysis highlights a significant surplus in Spain's lemon production for the 2023-2024 season, with an estimated 400,000 tons, or approximately 27% of total production, projected to remain unsold. This situation is expected to result in financial losses amounting to €120 million. Various factors have been identified as contributing to this issue, including the importation of lemons from countries such as Turkey, Egypt, Argentina, and South Africa, market manipulation by investment funds, supermarket preferences for aesthetically perfect fruit, increased pest activity, and adverse weather conditions. Moreover, the expansion of lemon cultivation areas along Spain's Mediterranean coast has been pinpointed as a primary factor.
The World Citrus Organization (WCO) has criticized the excessive expansion of lemon crops in Spain as the main cause of the current predicament, questioning the criticism of lemon imports given Spain's dominant position in the European market. Philippe Binard, WCO Secretary General, emphasized the need for a competitive market in his conversation with EL PAÍS.
Meanwhile, the Interprofessional Association of Lemon and Grapefruit (Ailimpo) has acknowledged the necessity for a reduction in lemon cultivation to address the imbalance between supply and demand. Ailimpo advocates for a range of measures, including tax reductions, improvements in agricultural insurance, promoting increased consumption, and adopting more environmentally sustainable farming practices, such as regenerative agriculture and managing lemon farms like forests to generate carbon and biodiversity credits.
Source: english.elpais.com
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