Asaja Alicante estimates that the frosts of last January, which were strongly felt in the Vega Baja and Camp d'Elx, caused significant losses in Fino and Verna lemons. The frost hit these citrus fruits in the middle of the season and affected about 70,000 tons of lemons in Alicante and more than twice that volume in Murcia. Taking into account all the crops affected by the frost in the two provinces, the loss amounts to 150,000 tons of lemons.
In Alicante, 33% of insured lemons were affected by frost damage. "That's a volume of damage that we had not seen for a long time for this reason," stated the president of Asaja Alicante, José Vicente Andreu. At the end of December, there were still more than 600,000 tons of Fino lemons and all the Verna to be harvested.
For this reason, the organization demands transparency from the Lemon inter-branch organization regarding the times it disseminates information and asks it to provide data accurately. "The frost caused considerable damage. The sector as a whole must know these data so that there is a serious and proportional relationship in the market so that the farmer's work in the field is respected," stated the president of Asaja Alicante, José Vicente Andreu.
Unfortunately, despite the expected good harvest, the frosts have destroyed a large part of the crop in the south of the province of Alicante, reducing the supply of citrus and causing high demand. "According to the law of supply and demand, since the supply of lemon has decreased by 150,000 tons, lemon prices for farmers should increase in the coming months under normal circumstances," stated Andreu.
The frost seriously affected this citrus, which was on the tree ready to be harvested. It dehydrated the fruits, making them unsellable. This affected producers, especially those who did not insure their crops because of the unprecedented crisis that the sector experienced in 2024.
Finally, Asaja Alicante emphasized that European imports of Turkish lemons have fallen in the past few months. This fall will soon be more noticeable due to the frosts that have just occurred in Turkey's growing areas. Production in the southern hemisphere will also decrease in Argentina, where the trend of uprooting lemon trees to produce other crops such as soybeans and sugar is consolidating.
For more information:
Asaja Alicante
www.alicanteasaja.com