The director of Afrucat, Manel Simon, said it would be a short campaign and there would be a lack of apples and pears due to the impact of weather on this year's harvest. This year's apple and pear production was lower than what the sector had forecasted due to the frost in April and the strong heat waves in summer. In fact, the sector had to correct their forecasts to the downside at the end of the year throughout Europe.
According to the latest official stock figures in Lleida, with data until February, the province had 27,354 tons of pears stored, i.e. 28% less than the 38,151 tons it had stored by the same dates last year.
Meanwhile, in February the region only had 71,250 tons stored, almost 43% less than the 124,813 tons it had stored by the same dates last year.
It should be noted that, in addition to affecting the calibers, the intense heat waves in summer caused certain varieties of apples in Lleida to also lack color. As a result, these apples could not be marketed fresh and ended up in the industry.
The Assembly of European Fruit and Vegetable Producing Regions (Arefehel) warned at its recent meeting held in Lleida that the drought will cause a significant fall in fruit production in the next campaign, which will result in an increase in prices.
Source: segre.com