Granada's mango and avocado harvests haven't been as affected by the drought as Malaga's harvests, so the decrease in volumes is milder. The mango campaign is much more advanced than usual at this time and with high prices. The avocado campaign will begin between weeks 38 and 39 with the smooth varieties.
"We are almost finished with the Osteen variety at a time when we'd normally have our warehouses full of this variety," said Fernando Martin, manager of the Bio Procam cooperative in Granada, a producer and marketer of organic vegetables and tropical fruits.
"This week we'll start marketing Kent mango. Normally, we start marketing it at the end of September. Last year, we finished marketing the Keitt variety at the end of November. This year, I doubt it'll last until the end of October," he added.
"This shows how frenetic the pace of purchases has been in this year's mango campaign," Fernando Martín stated. "Malaga's production has dropped by 70 to 80%. Meanwhile, the volumes in our production areas in Granada only decreased by 20-30% because of the heat in the flowering period. Demand is very high and the fruit is coming out faster than usual."
According to the manager of this cooperative located in Motril, it's a good mango campaign for the farmers of Granada. "Mango prices are very high and profitable for mango producers from Granada. Despite being good, prices don't compensate Malaga producers for their lack of kilos."
Bio Procam hopes to start its avocado campaign soon. They also expect lower volumes, especially because of the drought issues in Malaga. "We'll start with the first Bacon avocados between the end of next week and the beginning of the following week with good volumes, as the high temperatures took place after their flowering, which is the same thing that happened with the Fuerte variety. At the beginning of November, we'll start harvesting the Hass variety and we expect a higher production than normal in Granada," stated Fernando Martín.
The Granada cooperative produces and markets cucumbers throughout the year; its main product by volume. "At the moment we have a higher supply than what we usually have in September because we've planted a bigger area with early cucumbers and the heat accelerates production. Prices are at medium-low levels because there is still supply from the Netherlands and Germany. However, rumors are that their availability will begin to decrease in one or two weeks," Fernando Martín stated.
Fernando Martín Calllejón (manager)
BIO PROCAM
Ctra. Almería km. 1,6- Motril (Granada). España
T: +34 958600306
direccion@procamsca.com
www.procamsca.com