Farmers have blamed the heat and lack of rain this year for a 7.3 % drop in citrus production in the Valencian Community, which, they say, will lead to substantial variations in the distribution by variety.
In the Valencian Community, the production of sweet oranges will be reduced by 2.4% compared to the previous campaign and will be 16.2% less than the average of the last five, according to Cooperatives Agro-alimentàries.
In small citrus, production of satsumas will increase (33.9%) and the production of the hybrid subgroup will decrease slightly (1.4%), with the most notable change in the clementine subgroup, and especially the Clemenules variety, which will decrease by 28.5%.
This is the third consecutive campaign in which the national citrus production has fallen below 6 million tonnes, with a 1% drop compared to the previous campaign and 8.6% compared to the average of the last five.
The president of Cooperatives, Cirilo Arnandis, has announced that the first part of the campaign is expected to be more dynamic, and that it will be necessary to keep an eye on the effect that the rains expected in the coming weeks may have on the final sizes, while the second part will see the start of the export campaign to third countries, especially Egypt, and it will be necessary to see the possible variations that may occur in the revisions of the capacities.
Arnandis has pointed out that, in addition to the drop in production, high temperatures and lack of rain will also affect the citrus season in terms of the proliferation of pests and diseases.
In commercial terms, the campaign will also be marked by the reduction of orange juice available on the market, caused by the low production of reference countries such as Brazil, which will have its impact both on the industrial circuit and on the fresh marketing circuit, which could divert part of its production of less commercial aptitude to transformation with greater guarantees, according to Arnandis.
Despite the expected production declines, Arnandis stresses that citrus fruits will be “of the highest quality”, which will reinforce “for another year Spain’s position as one of the main producing countries in the world and the largest marketer of fresh produce”.
Meanwhile, water restrictions remain in place in various areas across the country, although it is difficult to imagine the state of the drought when so much wastage and abundant misuse is evident in many places.
Nationally, the reservoirs currently store 27,252 hm 3 of water, which is 48.63% of their capacity. In the Alicante province, the reservoirs are at 20.63% of their capacity, a reduction of -0.32% compared to last week.
