Producers and exporters in Murcia expect an excellent peach campaign

Despite the frosts that spoiled much of Cieza's early peach crop, the summer harvest is expected to be very good.

Last year, Murcia managed a production of 500,000 tons of peaches, Paraguayan peaches, apricots, nectarines and plums.

According to producers and exporters, the forecast regarding quantity, quality and export expectations for peaches and other stone fruits are very good, since good harvests of apricot, nectarine, Paraguayan and peach are expected, and the outlook in the markets Foreigners are also very positive.

And this despite the fact that the extra-early varieties campaign has generated losses in the sector valued at 45 million euros due to the strong frosts in the month of February, mainly for peaches in the Cieza area.

China, the great hope for the sector

But what most excites the Murcia stone fruit sector is the great door that has been opened after the signing, at the beginning of April, of the provisional protocol between China and Spain, which will allow this year to export peaches and plums to the Asian giant, something which joins the opening of the US market for Spanish apricots

In this sense, the Minister of Water, Agriculture and Environment, Adela Martínez-Cachá, highlights that the Region of Murcia "could begin to export stone fruit to China in the current campaign."

"This protocol for the export of stone fruit from Spain to China will make our country the first in the world to export peaches, nectarines and Paraguayans to the Asian giant," highlights the counselor. He has also ventured that "The opening of this market will produce a significant increase in Murcian exports, which would allow us to consolidate our leadership worldwide."

The head of Agriculture assures that this protocol "reveals the intense work carried out in recent months by the Government of Spain in collaboration with Spanish stone fruit producers and exporters and, specifically, those from Murcia represented in Apoexpa." .

To carry out the first shipments of stone fruit from Spain to China, a new inspection visit by Chinese technicians will be necessary to recognize and verify on the spot that all the requirements established in the protocol have been met.

The harvest situation in Europe also favors us.

The frosts and hailstorms that have affected the stone fruit harvest in France and Italy will also help exports, which will cause a decrease in the global volume of peaches and nectarines.

“The quality is good and the weather is extraordinary, because the lack of rain is benefiting us,” explains Joaquín Gómez, president of the Association of Exporting Producers of Fruits, Table Grapes and other Agricultural Products of Murcia (Apoexpa). Therefore, the forecast is to be around the figures of the previous campaign this year.

In the Region of Murcia, stone fruit occupies a total area of 25,000 hectares, which last year yielded 500,000 tons of peaches, Paraguayan peaches, apricots, nectarines and plums.

The Paraguayan continues to be the “star peach”, and has largely displaced the traditional peach.

This fruit, along with the apricot, is growing in volume in recent years, and is widely accepted by consumers, especially due to varietal improvement.

The professional agricultural organization Asaja Murcia also foresees a campaign with “excellent” prospects for the stone fruit sector in the Region.

The technical services of this organization indicate that the opening of the market for apricots represents great “added value” for the sector.

The general secretary of Asaja Murcia, Alfonso Gálvez Caravaca, assures that “the stone fruit campaign presents very positive and enriching expectations, and extraordinary quality, so we trust that very attractive commercial results will be obtained for producers.” . And he also noted that "without a doubt, the opening of the US market for Spanish apricots is going to be very positive and means taking another step in the internationalization of this fruit, which is so important within the regional agri-food sector."

On the other hand, Alfonso Gálvez Caravaca emphasizes that "at this moment it is a priority to work to create a quality brand for the Murcian stone fruit sector, which serves as an element of differentiation with respect to the productions of other competing countries outside the Union. European, and also to carry out promotional campaigns both in the national market and abroad."