The start of the Verna lemon campaign has been a "breath of fresh air for the market," says Juan Antonio Martínez Rubio, manager of Toñifruit. Thanks to its "spectacular freshness and quality," it has been received with great interest by the markets, "and consumption during the campaign has so far been good."
"At Toñifruit, we wanted to stress that, despite the high production this campaign, we have fruit of great quality, and we continue backing the promotion of consumption, with initiatives that can help supermarket chains encourage the purchase of lemons by consumers."
"To this end, we need the chains to do their part and set tight margins on the product being sold, taking also into account the characteristics of the campaign," says Juan Antonio. "It's a joint effort between producers, supermarkets and consumers, and we're seeing how it's possible to improve the results. In fact, in this first month of the Verna season, lemon consumption has been higher than at the same date of the previous campaign."
This is a very significant fact, considering the context of this campaign, in which Fino lemons have yielded poor results at the end, and the Verna lemon production has been significantly greater than last year's. "We are seeing the importance of promotions at the start of this campaign. Moreover, we must think that this greater production may allow us to extend the campaign and provide a better service to our customers."
"It's true that this will depend on the weather and will entail additional water consumption; but it will always be much more sustainable to use a little more water so that lemons can be harvested a bit later, rather than them being wasted, especially if we look at the massive carbon footprint of the lemons brought from Argentina or South Africa."
In 2020, AILIMPO conducted an exhaustive study on the water footprint of the lemons produced in Spain, revealing that in the last 30 years, this footprint has been reduced by 38.96%, and it is currently 57.8% lower than the global average for lemon production. This joint effort from the sector to optimize the water resources should be praised, as it has allowed the production of Fino and Verna lemons to grow by 30 and 45%, respectively, compared to the previous campaign in a context of severe drought and significant restrictions on irrigation. The production levels have been comparable to those of the 2020/21 campaign, when the drought was not yet a problem.
"Here in Murcia in particular, and in the southeast in general, we have spent years looking for ways to save water in fruit and vegetable cultivation, focusing on lemons, and all public and private institutions linked to agriculture are 100% involved in optimizing water consumption."
"Both the Imida and Anecoop are launching a research trial that pursues water savings in Spanish citrus cultivation. This, together with the research carried out previously, is allowing us to achieve smart water management and make up for the water scarcity of recent times," says Juan Antonio. "Much of that is due to the development and implementation of controlled deficit irrigation."
Balance in the stone fruit campaign
Toñifruit is also specialized in stone fruit. "We are now in the middle of the transition from the early area of Seville and Murcia to the mid-season areas of Extremadura. This will help keep the stone fruit campaign on the path of quality and service to the consumer, without overlaps or gaps, and make it possible to maintain a very positive balance."
For more information:
Toñifruit
Parque empresarial Cabecicos Blancos
C/ Molino Grande, buzón 22
30892 Librilla. Murcia, Spain
Tel.: +34 968 071 056
[email protected]
https://tonifruit.com