The stone fruit harvest in Murcia will fall by 11% this year, the second community with the greatest decrease.
According to estimates made by Agro-food Cooperatives of Spain, organization that represents and defends the economic and social interests of the movement cooperative Spanish agricultural sector, Murcia will register a reduction of almost 11 percent compared to last year, remaining at 279,000 tons,
Along with Valencia, which almost doubles the drop in our community, Murcia is the one that will be most affected by the general drop in production, despite this occupying third place among stone fruit producers, only behind Aragón and Catalonia.
The reduction in stone fruit production throughout Spain will be 3.6%, 5% in peach production
Throughout Spain, the reduction will be on average 3.6 % until reaching 1,598,931 tons, according to a statement from the organization, which specifies that, however, this amount is higher than the average recorded in the last five campaigns.
All varieties will suffer production declines, according to the agricultural organization's estimates, ranging from -11 % for plums to around -5 % in peaches, nectarines and pavia; The apricot will experience a slight decline of -1.5 %, while the Paraguayan is the only variety that registers an increase compared to the previous campaign, specifically 4.8 %.
Peach production is expected to be 289,715 t, nectarine 528,122 t, Paraguayan 276,015 t, and apricot 109,160 t.
According to the president of Stone Fruit of Agro-Food Cooperatives of Spain, Javier Basols, in general terms it is a slightly lower campaign than last year, despite the fact that there are new plantations that have entered into production in recent years. .
This year's frosts have marked extra-early peach production
In the early areas (Murcia, Valencia and Andalusia) the frosts suffered at the end of February and beginning of March have notably affected the extra-early production, and the production of late and mid-season fruit has also been affected by the lack of winter cold, which has resulted in a lower volume.
In the later areas, Aragon and Catalonia, "at the moment we have not had significant frosts that endanger production."
“Climatologically speaking, the year has been very variable in temperatures, which has generated a very long and heterogeneous flowering,” he indicated. The lack of cold hours can affect the production of early varieties, especially nectarines and peaches, explained Basols.
In his opinion, temperature fluctuations caused a long flowering period that, depending on the area, is causing advances or delays in harvest calendars.
However, “the climate is unstable and can still alter these calendars,” explains Basols.
At a general level, the closure of the Russian market "continues to have a serious impact on the sector, unbalancing the market."
Furthermore, at the moment, “temperatures in Europe are not conducive to the consumption of stone fruit and demand is lower than normal,” he concludes.
At the European level and according to the data presented by the different producing countries and disseminated in Europech, the European harvest of peaches, nectarines and pavia will reach 2,734,877 tons, -6 less than 2015 and -8 % compared to the average the last five campaigns.
Falls are expected in French and Italian production, although in Greece it rebounds slightly compared to last year; Apricot data not yet available.
At the European level, compared to 2015, the 2016 harvest forecasts show a significant decrease in the production volumes of peaches (-5 %), nectarine (-8 %) and pavia (-2 %).
Furthermore, this drop in production is greater when compared to the average of the last five campaigns (-20 %, -7 % and -17 % respectively).