The Aegialia region in Greece faces a lemon crisis, with a drastic 50% reduction in yields due to unfavourable spring climatic conditions. Producers report slow citrus harvests in key production zones like Aegialia and Corinth. Triantafillos Lukopoulos of the Temenisa cooperative notes that abundant rainfall during the flowering period has led to insufficient fruit set, resulting in a scarcity of lemons on trees compared to previous years.
Producer prices have plummeted to 50–60 cents per kilogram, down from the previous year's 80 cents. The market is flooded with lemon imports from Argentina, South Africa, the Netherlands, and Turkey, causing a significant impact. ELSTAT's preliminary data for September 2023 reveals a 59% increase in imports.
Lukopoulos emphasizes that the issue lies not only in prices but also in the imported produce's quality, as batches from third countries are being returned due to banned pesticides. A few years ago, Aegialia represented a quarter of the country's lemon production, with a volume of 40,000 tons. However, this year's production has dropped to 15,000 tons, according to Lukopoulos.
source: rua.gr