The tropical crop season continues in Almeria's Levante with the upcoming start of the passion fruit campaign in July. The harvest of these in the greenhouses of the province will follow that of papayas.
"The papaya campaign will be practically finished this month; we will continue to sell some small volumes for the local market, and in a couple of months we will start with the new season's green papaya," said Pepe Montiel, of Almanzora Tropical. "Green papaya is mostly consumed cooked and in salads. When the harvest is in full swing, we make weekly shipments to Europe, where we export practically 85% of the fruit, which is very popular among consumers from Southeast Asia and India."
Since the project's launch, Pepe has been working with the varieties Alicia and Sweet Sense, "which thrive in Almeria's greenhouses and have so far remained free of any kind of diseases or pests;" certainly an important factor when producing organically like Tropical Almanzora.
"Just yesterday we started with the passion fruit campaign, which will last until the end of September, and in early August we will start with the pitahaya harvest, which will last until mid-December."
These days, the heat is the biggest cause for concern for greenhouse producers in the province of Almeria. The plastics provide protection and allow the growth of plants all year round, but also dangerously retain heat during periods of high temperatures like the current one.
"In fact, right now, the heat is the most potentially damaging factor for tropical crops. Papayas, like pitahaya, will be affected during the flowering and this will lead to fruit loss. If the weather continues like this, our papaya production could be up to 50% lower next season. As for pitahaya, the plants have already had the first flowering and I estimate that we will obtain 60 to 70% of the potential production, but the success of the next flowering, which will start with the next full moon, will also depend on whether temperatures remain as high," said Pepe. "Fortunately, in the case of passion fruit, this heat arrived when the fruit had already grown, and we expect to reach 70 to 80% of the productive potential."
Almanzora Tropical sells its tropical organic production mostly in the European market, although it also supplies fruit to domestic customers and restaurants. "We are not only working hard to sell our products, but also to keep prices up," said Pepe, recalling that "Almeria's papaya production is not yet big enough for the product to be offered in the province's auctions; so, as established by law, orders must be accompanied by the requirements in terms of size, color, Brix, etc., but also the price."
"As for papayas, after some bad experiences with cooperatives in the province when Almanzora Tropical started marketing, we have managed to have 100% of the production sold in the European market."
For more information:
Pepe Montiel
Almanzora Tropical
Camino de Los Ángeles s/n
04617 Cuevas de Almanzora, Almeria, Spain
Tel.: +34 670 981 241
[email protected]
www.almanzoratropical.com
