In the second week of January, most of the avocado production in the province of Huelva is still on the trees. "In fact, the harvest is just beginning now. Normally, some fruit is already picked in December and there is some commercial pressure, but this year the start has been delayed a bit," says José María Marín, from the Huelva-based company Valle del Guadiana. "We believe this is due to market saturation, as far as calibers are concerned. This year, due to the drought, the sizes of the avocados are not very large and in December we competed with fruit of similar calibers from Colombia, Chile and other origins."
"The vast majority of the production will be sorted as medium and small calibers and, just like last year, large calibers are scarce." The drought, which everyone hopes will pass, has wreaked havoc across Andalusia. Currently, according to official figures, the water reservoirs in the autonomous region are only at 20.46% of their total capacity. Still, Huelva is the province with the best data, as far as reservoir levels are concerned, so its situation is much better than in other provinces, like Malaga, where unfortunately - and hopefully not for much longer - the La Viñuela reservoir is at an agonizing 7% of its capacity.
"Here in Huelva our irrigation allocations are quite limited, but we are still lucky to have more water than in the Malaga area. Still, the situation is quite tough and we are all hoping for rain. Speaking with someone from Malaga recently, he told me that Huelva's situation is like Malaga's last year. We are a year ahead of them, and we are seeing what could happen to us if it doesn't rain or the necessary infrastructures are provided," says José María.
It should be recalled that last year, the Andalusian avocado production recorded an 18.9% drop compared to the previous campaign, with a more significant reduction in eastern Andalusia. However, in Huelva, as well as in Cadiz, the production grew hand in hand with the new hectares planted by projects like Valle del Guadiana, which has 460 hectares in the southwest of the province.
"This year, the big question is whether European supermarkets will appreciate the proximity of Spanish fruit when calibers are the same, and will be willing to pay more for it than for imported fruit. For me, the answer is clear: not enough. In fact, although the final results will depend on the calibers that producers are able to deliver, prices so far have not reached the desired levels, and there are too many small and medium calibers. We are obviously competing with other origins outside the European Union, since production within the EU has dropped, mainly due to the lower volumes coming from the Costa Tropical. Anyway, we hope that the situation will improve as the campaign progresses."
For more information:
Valle del Guadiana
Ayamonte-Villablanca, Huelva, Spain
Tel.: +34 917 991 555
info@valledelguadiana.com
https://valledelguadiana.com