On October 3rd, during the Fruit Attraction fair, Afrucat -Catalonia's Fruit Business Association- presented a balance of Catalonia's 2023 stone fruit campaign.
According to its director, Manel Simon, the 2023 peach and nectarine campaign was marked by four factors: "drought, lack of labor, prices, and the impact of pests on production." The drought was the trigger for several of the factors that have caused an anomalous campaign, starting with an uneven ripening, a harvest advance, and the overlap of Catalonia's production with that of the rest of the Spanish productive areas. "The small calibers accumulated until mid-July, with high losses and a price pressure that was not solved until the new mid-season varieties entered production and the calibers normalized."
The lack of water, along with the shortage of labor and the difficulty of managing some pests, are three of the challenges that the sector needs to solve, Afrucat stated. According to Afrucat, irrigation must be modernized to face the lack of water, which is expected to increase, and the sector must invest in research to fight pests.
Regarding the shortage of labor, the Association proposes hiring at source as a solution, adding that the automation-robotization of the harvest will be essential in the medium to long term.
Source: fepex.es