A hailstorm in early May had a major impact on stone fruit production in the Spanish Region of Murcia. The area of Yéchar, in the heart of the Vega Media del Segura, has been one of the worst affected, with entire crops lost and many trees with rotten trunks needing to be uprooted.
Those who have been spared from the impact of the hailstorm are having a glorious season; others will have to replant the trees. Jesús García, Manager of Viveros Bombonfruit, says that they have "an annual production of 500,000 flat peach, apricot, peach, and nectarine plants."
"We send them all over Spain and even to some clients in Greece. Stone fruit is trendy, although the flagship product is the platerina, a flat peach with nectarine skin, the best known variety of which is the Luisella," he says.
© Bombonfruit
Besides the nursery, "we also have our own production; 1.5 million kilos of stone fruit per year and the same amount of citrus, all grown in the area of Yéchar, which was one of the worst hit by the hailstorm at the beginning of May," says García. "Now there is starting to be more fruit, but those weeks after the hailstorm, apricots have been sold at source for 2.5 € per kilo."
As far as apricot trees are concerned, practically all of which were lost, García says that "the crop has been very much affected by climate change, which is why 40% of what there was has been uprooted. It is a tree that needs hours of cold and winter rest; without this, it won't bear fruit, and here the winter is getting warmer and warmer. Peaches, nectarines, and flat peaches tolerate the lack of cold well, but apricots are more sensitive."
The frosts in Greece and Turkey and the hail in Murcia have destroyed many plantations, and this has been a determining factor in causing prices to rise. In Yéchar, the damage was considerable. "We have lost all our citrus and stone fruit. We have even needed to cut down 30,000 trees because the wood was rotten. Because of the hail, some farms won't have any fruit next year. We won't be able to produce stone fruit in Yéchar again at least until 2027," says García.
We are now approaching the end of Murcia's fruit season, and the manager believes that "The winter has been good, with the expected frosts and hours of cold. In general, the rainfall has helped the fruit gain size."
"Turkish stone fruit normally exerts a lot of pressure because labor there is much cheaper. Here we have to fulfil many requirements, and we pay 13 € net per hour. Although our product is highly appreciated, when Turkish fruit arrives, prices are dragged down," says García.
As far as treatments in the field are concerned, he says: "We increasingly have fewer means of protection when it comes to fumigation. We are not on an equal footing with Turkey or Greece; they can use products that eliminate all pests with a single fumigation, and we have to use very expensive products up to four times."
"In the past, the rootstock was left to grow for a whole year, and the grafting was done in August." Thus, it took two years to have a tree ready for transplanting. "Now the cycle goes from December to December, with grafting in May. Although the tree is smaller, by the end of the year, it is already one meter tall. Everything is accelerating, and winter is getting warmer. We have to get ready for the changes that are coming," says García.
For more information:
Jesús García
Viveros Bombonfruit
Tel.: + 34 647 405 054
Tel.: + 34 635 406 826
[email protected]
www.bombonfruit.com
