Lleida's pear Conference harvest campaign is starting these days. According to the head of Asaja in Lleida, Pere Roque, the campaign will start almost one week later than last year, as producers were waiting for the fruit to acquire a greater caliber.
The official forecasts of the Ministry of Climate Action and the Catalan fruit industry, Afrucat, estimate the harvest at 56,710 tons, i.e. 19% lower than last year and 17% lower than the average for the 2017-2021 period; a result of the frost that hit the province at the beginning of April.
The problem at the moment, Pere said, is that there are many farmers who have low-sized fruits, so we'll have to see what the actual production for fresh marketing stands at.
This season will also be marked by increased costs as, not only did harvest costs increase, but cold storage costs are also increasing because of the effects of the compensation to the gas companies for the so-called Iberian exception. As Segre published last week, Afrucat has denounced that the mechanism, which aims to lower the cost of electricity, means companies in the sector will have to pay a 35% cost overrun.
Source: segre.com