Huge price swings and a too low returns have caused the cultivation of stone fruit in the Spanish region Valencia to continually decrease in the last few years. According to information from the growers union AVA-ASAJA in 2002 plums, apricots, peaches and nectarines were grown on 24,877 hectares in Valencia. In 2006 this area had decreased by almost 20% to 20,020 hectares. According to AVA-ASAJA, based on statistics from the ministry of Agriculture, people in Valencia grow stone fruits on just 16,008 hectares nowadays. This means that the area has decrease by another 20% since 2006. In total this means that the growing area has decreased by over 35% since 2002.
As a reaction to this Cristóbal Aguado, president of AVA-ASAJA, the European Commission is to make changes in the Communal Agriculture Policy (Gemeenschappelijk Landbouwbeleid) to ensure fair prices for growers.