The stone fruit harvest has started slowly in Extremadura with the first apricots and with very limited volumes. Soon the first nectarines, peaches and extra early flat peaches will also arrive.
"Although not a representative production for Extremadura, the stone fruit harvest in May has been reduced by the frosts in March. This affected the earliest varieties, whose flowers had already set and started turning into fruit buds," says José Aurelio García, manager of Explum, based in the municipality of Valdelacalzada, Badajoz. "However, the June harvests are expected to be normal in terms of volume, as those have not been affected, so far, by any adverse weather conditions."
With regard to plums, the most representative fruit in terms of volume for this cooperative and for Extremadura, "we expect, for the time being, a normal production in the area of the Vega Baja, except for the late variety Angeleno, whose volumes will fall significantly compared to the previous season due to a poor flowering," said José Aurelio García.
"The first plums, of older and less significant varieties, will arrive in early June, although for us, the variety that truly marks the start of the season is the Black Splendor, which will arrive between June 15 and 20, and which is appreciated by the market," he says.
"There are currently lower volumes of plums from Chile in markets around the world, so we expect Spanish plums to arrive to an emptier market with less competition. Other years, the Chilean Angeleno plum has clashed with our early Black Splendor, but this will not be the case this year, as we do not believe there will be many Chilean plums leftover by the end of May. This should help Spanish plums attract more attention at the start of the season," said Explum's manager.
For more information:
José Aurelio García
Explum SC
T: +34 924446338
M: +34 615289854
jagarcia@explumsc.com
www.explumsc.com