Spain: The sector of red fruits foresees to exceed the exports of 2015 in a 7%
The sector of the red fruits foresees to exceed the exports of 2015 in more than seven percent when reaching more than 353.000 tons exported so far this year, while last year they were 330.000. The strawberry has been the most exported, surpassing the 290.000 tons, followed by the raspberry, the blueberry and the blackberry.
In addition, in all likelihood, exports of blueberries this year will also exceed those of last year, with more than 35.000, according to data collected by the Spanish Federation of Associations of Producers Exporters of Fruits, Vegetables, Flowers and Live Plants (Fepex) , and consulted by Europa Press.
As for the countries most receiving the red fruits onubenses are Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Austria and Belgium, producing the highest peak of export in the month of April, since in May the strawberry onubense competed with the local strawberry of some of these countries, which led to a drop in prices.
However, the export data throughout this month of December will not contribute much to this figure, since, as pointed out by the manager of Freshuelva, Rafael Domínguez, "it is being normal, not like December of 2015 when the campaign was advanced a month due to the good weather, which favored the quality of the fruit during the first months and an optimal ripening rhythm".
FIRST EARLY VARIETIES
Domínguez has assured that in this month of December they have already begun to collect the earliest varieties, but not the thickness of the campaign that normally starts in full at the end of January or beginning of February.
In fact, the Freshuelva manager figures 60 percent less compared to December 2015 what was collected on these dates, for which he has highlighted that the amounts of red berries in European markets today "they are not so high".
In turn, he recalled that the tornado that occurred in Palos at the beginning of December "has delayed the campaign, since the affected plant has to recover with the current weather, which is being very cold." However, he has made it clear that "the markets are responding well, the fruit is arriving correctly in small quantities but with high quality." Regarding the last campaign, the manager of Freshuelva has specified that "It was a very good year due to the good weather and there were a lot of exports, with high-quality and very healthy fruit.".
The strawberry sector of Huelva closed the 2015-2016 campaign with a total strawberry production of 294.650 tons, slightly higher than the previous year's - two percent more - even though the planted hectares fell by an 8,7 percent, while the turnover amounted to 395 million euros, representing an increase of eight percent over the previous campaign.
PLANTATION PHASE
The planting phase of this campaign has yielded a total area planted of the red fruit set in the province that is growing by 3,85 percent compared to the 9.658 hectares of berries planted in the last year, reaching the 10.030. However, the area of strawberry has fallen again, this time, seven percent, which contrasts, however, with the growth of 22 in hectares planted with raspberries, blueberries and blackberries.
The planted area of strawberry has gone from the 5.860 hectares of last season to the 5.400 of the current one. As for the raspberries, there will be 1.932 hectares planted, by the 1.815 that there was last year, what supposes an increase of the 6,45 percent of land enabled for the production of raspberry.
In the case of blueberries, 1.953 will be transferred to 2.538 hectares planted, which also translates into an increase of 30 percent, the highest experienced by all the berries, since the area of blackberries grows an 23 percent: from 130 to 160 hectares. However, in the latter case, new extra-early varieties have been planted, which aim to cover a greater time space in the markets for this fruit.
It will be the first time that the blueberry will be the second berry in surface planted in the province, although it must be taken into account that it is a shrub that starts its commercial production from the third year, with which, not all plants go into production in the current campaign.
Source: 20minutos.es
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