The citrus sector starts harvesting with price increases in the field of up to 47%

2023-09-27 15:23:28

He citrus sector of the Valencian Community harvesting begins in earnest corresponding to the 2023/2024 season with the farms that have planted the clemenrubí mandarin, one of the earliest in the sector. And it is done at a time when, according to the data provided by the Valencia Citrus Marketreference for the links in the agri-food chain, some varieties like oronules (with an average price of 0.65 euros per kilogram at origin) records price increases up to 47% compared to identical weather week last year.

In the midst of a forecast of drop in production and good calibersAs anticipated by the Ministry, the Ministry and the agricultural organizations, the price improvements are not so high in these first weeks of operations in the field in the case of the marisol, with a value of 0.37 euros/kg., which is 8% more than a year before. Meanwhile, the aforementioned clemenrubías well as the orogrósobtain values ​​similar to those of the previous exercise.

For their part, the varieties of satsuma (okitsu y owari), with 0.32 euros per kilogram, they do improve the prices paid to farmers from last year (between 0.23 and 0.28 euros/kg on average). In the case of the earliest varieties of oranges, the navelinaoperations have not yet begun in the fields.

A campaign with a smaller harvest

According to the estimates of the Department of Agriculture It is expected that the production of oranges reach 1,299,475 tons, that of tangerines1,134,895, at de lemons 344,690 and that of pomelos 17,630. In this way, 94,902 tons less than the previous campaign and 331,870 less than the average of the previous five seasons are expected for mandarins. Furthermore, the The decline occurs in all subgroups and almost all provinces. It is more pronounced in clementines, of which about 50,000 tons less are expected than last season, although it is also produced in satsumas and hybrids.

In total, about 109,479 tons of citrus fruits less than in the previous campaign (-3.8%) and 469,153 less than two years ago (-14.4%). Furthermore, if compared with historical data, it will be 17% lower (that is, 573,124 t) than the average of the last ten campaigns. Because? According to the autonomous administration, this has to do with the fact that “the meteorology, again, has influenced the flowering and fruit setting. The combination of high spring temperatures and high humidity, due to the rains that occurred in May and June – according to the Ministry – and the weakening of the trees affected the setting of the fruit, being the ‘porgà’ (the one that naturally comes off the tree) very high”.

In other territories

Meanwhile, Andalusia has just announced that in the current campaign it will produce 1.86 million tons of citrus. This territory, according to the Board’s forecasts, will produce 32% of the citrus fruits in all of Spain and 44.6% of the oranges this year.

In it set of Spain (including Murcia y Catalonia), the Ministry of Agriculture communicates a production forecast for 5.75 million tons of citrus fruits in the 2023/2024 campaign. The new harvest is expected to be similar to the previous one, but 14.4% below the average of the last five, mainly due to the drought. The production of oranges will decrease by 8.2% compared to last year, while that of lemons will increase by 28%.

Exported production reaches an average value per campaign of 3.3 billion euros, which makes Spain the world’s leading marketer of fresh citrus fruits, with 25% of global exports.