Spain's largest stone fruit producer is currently Aragon. The expansion of the acreage in Bajo Cinca, Valdejalón and Caspe by companies outside this sector has pushed the region ahead of Catalonia, previously the largest Spanish producer of these fruits.
According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Aragon produced 526,176 tons of apricots, cherries, plums, peaches and nectarines last year, compared to the 491,876 tons of Catalonia.
The UAGA has estimated the average annual expansion of the stone fruit acreage at between 7% and 8%. This increase has been carried out mostly by companies outside the sector; speculators who have destabilized the supply and demand and who are actually harming this market.
"Venture capital funds and investment companies have entered our sector with force," says the co-manager for this section in UAGA, Alberto Ortego, who stresses that Aragon had already surpassed Catalonia in terms of volume last year.
The region's stone fruit harvest is expected to grow by 2%, with peaches and nectarines as the most common fruits. Both crops will record a 10% rise compared to 2018 and their combined volume will amount to 510,000 tons.
As pointed out by the UAGA, now all that is needed is for the weather to remain favorable and for hailstorms not to upset these good forecasts.
The concern about the low prices paid for stone fruit in the first stage of the current campaign has caused the UAGA to ask for the creation of a Spanish Stone Fruit Interprofessional organization; one in which all links in the chain would be represented, making it easier to set minimum prices that can at least cover the production costs.
Source: elperiodicodearagon.es
