Spanish orange and mandarin producers are about to wrap up a campaign considered "very bad" due to falling prices and especially to the consequences of droughts. The agricultural organisations ASAJA, COAG and UPA and the cooperatives have stressed that the lack of rainfall has led to smaller calibres and the spread of diseases, coinciding with a moment of low demand and low returns for the growers.
Citrus producers have highlighted that the results have been especially bad in oranges, while in some cases, mandarins did a little better.
Spain, a global leader in the marketing of citrus fruits (oranges, mandarins, lemons and grapefruit), produces around 5.5 million tonnes, of which over 60% are intended for export. The main production areas are Valencia, Andalusia and Murcia.
"The campaign has not been good. It would be necessary to conduct an individual analysis for each sector, but the main problem has been the lack of rainfall, which increases costs for the provision of water and irrigation," explains the technical manager of Fruit and Vegetables of Valencian Cooperatives, Enrique Bellés.
Bellés pointed out that the mandarin harvest "has been a little more satisfactory than the orange harvest."
Droughts have caused skin dehydration and cracking and has resulted in an abundance of small calibres, explained the head of ASAJA's technical services for Fruits and Vegetables, José Ugarrio.
In Valencia, the president of Ava-Asaja, Cristóbal Aguado, said that the situation in the plantations, as a result of dryness, is probably "the toughest in the past 150 years."
COAG's head of the citrus sector, Paco Gil, said that droughts are not the only reason for this "terribly bad" year, as prices, in his opinion, have been "disastrous" and "ridiculous," especially in the case of oranges, with growers receiving between 6 and 7 Euro per kilo.
Gil says that consumption has fallen and growers "cannot continue like this," with a situation of low prices at origin and a deficit in distribution sales.
Growers also fear for the lack of rainfall to continue and affect also next year's campaign (the current one ends in June).
Agricultural organisations have also warned that animals, such as rabbits, are starting to climb the trees due to the lack of sustenance on the ground, which is unprecedented.
For his part, the general secretary of UPA in the Region of Valencia, Rafael Cervera, has described the campaign as "irregular", although with very low prices, which have dropped by between 30 and 40%, and a decline in consumption.
Cervera has also warned of the appearance of diseases like cracking due to the lack of water.
According to official data on citrus foreign trade, from September to February, Spanish exports fell by 12% in volume, down to 2.5 million tonnes, and by 8% in value, down to 1,877 million Euro.
The fall was greater in the case of oranges; 513 million Euro (-21%) and 860,375 tonnes (-20%).
In the case of mandarins, the total revenue from exports was of 1.1 million Euro (+1%) with 1.3 million tonnes shipped (-7%).
Source: Efe