The constant rains of the last three weeks in Spain are taking their toll on the most important fruit and vegetable production areas and on various crops, such as citrus fruits. The persistent rainfall has prevented harvesting in Andalusia, Valencia, and Murcia and has had an impact on the quality of late mandarins and some orange varieties. Demand for oranges is now far outstripping supply.
© Fruta de AutorOrange fields in the province of Valencia.
"With so many consecutive days of rain we have hardly been able to harvest fruit and we are unable to meet all orders. We can only offer minimum services. We are only able to supply 20% of what we had programmed. The orange harvest has been significantly delayed," says Manuel Baides, manager of the Fruta de Autor group.
According to Baides, in addition to the few mandarins left on the trees, it's very likely that orange varieties such as the Lane Late or Salustiana will be more affected by the excess moisture, as they are in a more advanced production cycle.
"When the rains are over, we'll have to see how the quality of the fruit evolves in the chambers before shipping anything to avoid any unpleasant surprises," he says. "For the time being, we cannot enter the fields to carry out treatments, because many of them are flooded and paths are impassable. Nor can we carry out pruning work for the next kaki harvest."
© Fruta de AutorOrange fields in the province of Valencia.
In late February and early March, before the rain storms started, the orange market was quiet, but the situation has now been reversed.
"Before all these rains, there were plenty of stocks of table oranges from Egypt and there was also an abundant supply from various Mediterranean-producing countries, as well as Spain. Now the small supply available doesn't come close to covering all orders and high prices are not holding them back, because the markets are fairly empty. In the Middle Eastern countries where we export, there is a huge demand for oranges due to Ramadan," says Manuel Baides.
For more information:
Manuel Baides
Fruta de Autor SL
Tel.: +34 961 018 189
Tel.: +34 615104344
comercial@frutadeautor.com
www.frutadeautor.com
www.grupoautor.es