The flowering of pear trees in Lleida, the largest pear-producing region in Spain, began less than a week ago, and the production prospects are far better than last year's.
© Tornafruit
"The province is one of the latest areas in Spain for pear blossom, and flowers didn't start to appear until 4-5 days ago," says Jordi Alcaraz, Manager of Tornafruit. "Nonetheless, technicians are already saying that, although some factors, such as the type of pruning, can have an influence, at the moment there are considerably more flowers than last year, and as long as no unexpected frosts happen, production prospects are good; considerably better than in the 2024 season."
© TornafruitLast year, early in the spring, there were problems with the flowering that affected all varieties across the board, but with a particularly strong impact on the Conference variety, which is the most common.
"We were also affected by this problem, which technical studies have attributed to climatic factors, and we only had 30% of the expected crop. We had suffered a very heavy frost, followed by very intense heat with a lack of water for irrigation. There was already a round of flowering in October 2023, right in the middle of the fall and before hibernation, so by February/March, there was hardly any flowering on the trees."
This situation, in fact, has led the Catalonian Government to provide aid to pear growers affected by the lack of flowering: a total of 7.9 million euros.
"To be fair, the season's price has not been bad, but when there's a shortage of kilos as great as the one we've had on many farms, the situation is bound to become tough," says Jordi. "Besides, we see that the entry of Dutch and Belgian pears is also having a considerable impact. They didn't have any problems in their seasons and have obtained higher yields per hectare than we have, so, given the drop in Spanish production, they have entered our market with force."
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"We see that national consumers generally prefer Lleida pears, but even though there are stocks in Spain, there are still supermarkets working with imported pears. All studies say that pear consumption is falling and that it's mostly consumed by older people and young children, while other fruits, such as grapes, are taking an increasing share of winter fruit consumption."
"For this reason, we hope that this year's production will recover, as the blossom these days seems to indicate, and that we will all work together to promote domestic pears and give a boost to the consumption of an excellent fruit."
© Tornafruit
© TornafruitFor more information:Tornafruit
Av. Lluís Companys, 17 25331 Tornabous, Lleida. Spain
Tel.: +34 609 74 10 04
tornafruit@tornafruit.com
https://www.tornafruit.com/