As in other Spanish growing areas, the stone fruit season has also been noticeably delayed in the Extremadura region. "In the Vegas Bajas area, in the province of Badajoz, the season is about 8-10 days behind last year's," says Manuel García, general manager of Frutas Torrebaja.
"In our case, we'll start harvesting the first varieties on May 17, whereas last year we started on the 10th. Nonetheless, we are expecting good peach and nectarine productions, and although we'll again have an irregular plum production due to the rains in spring, we are expecting it to be better than last year's. "Fortunately, some varieties that performed poorly last year are yielding much better results this time," he says.
"The first varieties that Frutas Torrebaja will start marketing in just a few days will be white-fleshed peaches, and in 6-7 days we'll start harvesting our yellow-fleshed red peaches, as well as the first nectarines and flat peaches of the season."
"As far as plums are concerned, we'll start harvesting larger varieties around June 10," says Manuel.
"Luckily, in Vegas Bajas, our fruit has been spared from the impact of hail, but other areas of Spain have been very badly affected."
According to Agroseguro, in addition to the more than 10,000 hectares of fruit trees affected in Lleida due to the hailstorm of April 19, in the first days of May, damage from new storms has been reported in at least 80,000 hectares insured throughout the Iberian Peninsula. A percentage of that acreage corresponds to fruit trees in regions such as Aragon, Castile-La Mancha, Valencia, Navarre, La Rioja, and the Region of Murcia.
"Commercially speaking, this could be good for our fruit after two years, in which June has been a very difficult month for Extremadura's nectarines and peaches due to them overlapping with the fruit from Murcia and Lleida. However, we still don't know whether the stone fruit from other regions that have been hit by hail will be marketed or go to the processing sector, and our sales could be affected by that."
"However, prospects are good. This year we have a significant production of peaches and nectarines, and we hope to have a better plum season than last year. We expect to start in just a few days," says Manuel García.
For more information:
Frutas Torrebaja
Ctra. Ex-209, Km.27,5 Polígono 548, parcela 218
Guadiana del Caudillo, Badajoz, Spain
Tel.: +34 924 44 72 36
[email protected]
https://frutastorrebaja.com/