The impact of the hailstorms recorded this spring in the heart of Murcia's stone fruit production areas is already clear. There has been a significant drop in the volume of apricots and nectarines, peaches, and flat peaches, which have not reached the desired quality or have been fully lost. However, Cieza's production has been unaffected.
The hailstorm affected Calasparra, Ceutí, Mula, Jumilla, and Archena, but not Cieza, "so we are going to be filling a significant gap in the European markets," says Daniel Marín, manager of Frutas Don Cayetano, adding that "there is strong demand for stone fruit. More flat peaches appear to be arriving now, but nectarines are sold in advance, and red peaches too. Apricots are in very short supply."
The rains in March fell right at the time when the apricots were setting and caused them to lose their blossoms. However, the same rains allowed the rest of the fruits to gain a lot of size. "The sizes this year are very good. There are plenty of A, AA, and AAA, and we are, in fact, having trouble finding B and C sizes for the baskets," says Marín.
"Other factors adding to the good performance of Cieza stone fruit are the impact of frosts in Turkey, where they reached -15°C, and the low quality of the fruit from Greece," says Marín.
Frutas Don Cayetano is a company founded just three years ago that has had up to 250 workers at the height of the season. "We started working with mandarins in September and finished in March with the Orri; then we started with early stone fruit in Mazarrón. We have our own production, amounting to around 1.5 million kilos. In total, we export 15 million kilos to supermarkets and wholesalers in Belgium, the Netherlands, France, and Italy," says the company administrator.
In the first part of the citrus season, from September to December, "we have seen good sales and prices, but in the second part, from January to May, the fruit has been severely hit by thrips. There was not a lot of Orri, and quality failed to meet the required standards, but prices have still remained stable because of the low supply on the market," says Marín. He says this is due to the fact that "there have been fewer oranges from Egypt."
As for the cuts in the Tagus-Segura water transfer, Marín says that "without this water, many growers will have to abandon their farms. Using desalinated water is not an option, because the infrastructure can't bring it from so far away. We producers have invested in the necessary facilities to irrigate with the water from the transfer; everything would be lost if they cut it by 50%, as the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge has announced."
For more information:
Daniel Marín
Frutas Don Cayetano
Tel.: +34 683 52 71 08
[email protected]
https://frutasdoncayetano.es