Bad weather in Spain delays the harvest of berries
A long period of cold weather in Spain It is causing a decrease in the production of vegetables, however, the situation is not as serious as the shortage of supply that occurred last year.
A representative of Fresh Grower Hub commented that there would also be impacts on citrus varieties of late harvest and early pits, while rains in the south of the country were delaying the harvest of berries.
Spain has been experiencing lower than normal temperatures since the end of January, and in recent days much of Europe has been affected by a cold front.
"There have been quite a few days with low temperatures", Commented the CEO of Fresh Grower Hub, Fernando Moroto, to Portalfruticola.com.
The executive said that while citrus fruits had been slightly affected in the late varieties, with Valencia and Alicante even receiving some snow, the season is almost over and there is little fruit in the trees.
"But vegetables have been more affected, mainly open-field crops such as celery, lettuce, broccoli and cauliflower", Said the representative of Fresh Grower Hub.
"In addition to that, the stone fruit is blooming, but only the first varieties in the north of Murcia will be affected. The cold weather has not been so dramatic in the coastal areas of the province".
He also explained that most of the first production varieties are located along the coast, and that producers who were more inland or at higher altitudes were more affected. Recently, the Murcian government estimated that the damages to the horticulture of the province exceeded the 20 million euros, and that the producers of apricots and peaches are among the most affected.
Moroto also pointed out that last year's shortage of supplies had been so serious in large part because the rare snowfalls had fallen in the southeast of the country, a major production area. This year, however, there was less snowfall in the country and mainly in the northern and central areas.
In addition, he said that the prices of vegetables in the European market this year had not risen to levels that were recorded last year, as the colder weather throughout the continent had cushioned demand.
Delayed harvest of berries
The rainfall in the southern areas of the country in recent days has also delayed the blueberry and strawberry crops, but Moroto did not expect the overall volumes to be very successful.
"The berry harvest has almost stopped, not quite, but the volumes last week were very low, and the producers take care of their greenhouses, structures and plastic covers as there are strong winds"He commented.
Last week, its producers expected to harvest up to 10 metric tons of berries, but added that in the end it would probably be less than 1,5 metric tons.
Specifically for the strawberries, Moroto indicated that the total production volumes decreased by 12-14% in the year so far despite an increase of 3% in the sown area.
He added that climate is expected to improve this week and that export delays should not be longer than 10 days.
"THEThe volumes are going to be there. I do not think there is a significant decrease in volumes and availability, it's just a temporary situation", Moroto assured.
On the other hand, Moroto indicated that the rain had been a relief for a large part of the horticultural sector in southern Spain, which has been affected by a drought in the last four years.
Source: Fruit Portal
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