With the campaign already finished, the Council of Agriculture and Water expects this season's peach harvest to reach 330 239 tonnes; an increase of 30% compared to the previous year, according to data from the Agricultural Associations and Statistics Service, obtained in collaboration with the District Agricultural Offices and IMIDA's Fruit Growing team. However, to this amount we would have to subtract the 16,000 tonnes lost as a result June's hail, as the data collection was carried out before this happened.
Except for those hailstorms, the weather conditions have been favourable this year, which has allowed for a good settling in all plantations.
Thus, the extra-early peach production has increased by 27%; early peaches by 25%; mid-season peaches by 35% and late peaches by 11%.
The flat peach production has also increased by 20%, reaching 90,407 tonnes this year. This increase is mainly due to the entry into production of new plantations and their good settling. A varietal conversion is being carried out, with the oldest varieties, such as UFO2 and Sweet cap, among others, being replaced by new ones, like Kalinka, Samantha and Alcatraz, which have a better quality.
The Mistral 30 platerine, developed by IMIDA's Fruit Growing Department in partnership with the company Novamed SL, has become productive this year. This variety allows for an earlier harvest compared to others, such as Mesembrina, and also has an attractive colour and good quality.
The estimated nectarine production this year will be of 115,828 tonnes; an increase of 45% compared to the previous year. This is mainly the result of the entry into production of new plantations and the absence of frosts, which last year caused some losses.
In 2013 the production of peaches and nectarines in Spain reached 1,341,774 tonnes. By regions, Murcia ranked third with 251,360 tonnes, representing 19% of the domestic total. Aragon and Catalonia were the main producing regions, with 27 and 26%, respectively. Spain is Europe's second largest peach producer, after Italy.
Exports
The Region of Murcia's peach and nectarine exports for fresh consumption represent 18% of Spain's total. The value of Murcia's exports for these products reached 139.2 million Euro in 2013, of which 66.1 million corresponded to peaches and 73.2 million to nectarines. During the last ten years, these exports have increased by 76% in the case of the Region of Murcia and 56% for Spain as a whole.
In 2013, the Region of Murcia exported a total of 103,802 tonnes of peaches and nectarines, which represents 41% of the production and 14% of all Spanish exports. The main destinations are Germany, the UK and France (68% of the total), another 20% goes to Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Poland and the rest goes to the other 19 countries of the European Union.
Source: Efe