This was announced at the Citrus Table, held on Tuesday at the Ministry of Water, Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, Environment and Emergencies of the Region of Murcia, in which the forecast for this campaign was made public.

According to estimates, this year, Murcia will produce 807,000 tons of citrus on 38,180 hectares. "This is the lowest production of the last seven years," stated Remedios Garcia, the general director of Agriculture, Food Industry and Agrarian Cooperatives, who chaired the forum. Mandarin production is expected to decrease by 24%, orange production by 14.6%, lemon production by 11%, and grapefruit production by 9.2%.

This reduction is mainly due to the excessive rainfall during the flowering and fruit setting phases, as well as the high temperatures recorded in the later stages, Garcia stated. In addition, the increase in production costs and low sales prices recorded in recent years have led many farmers to abandon their activity because they consider it unsustainable.

The main lemon-exporting province
Murcia is the country's leading exporter of lemons, with dispatches worth 456 million euro, a figure that triples Alicante's sales, the second province with the highest volume of sales abroad.

In fact, lemon is the most cultivated species in the Region and accounts for 70.9% of the citrus fruits produced in Murcia; followed by orange production (13.4%), mandarin (11.6%), and grapefruit (4%).

Source - https://www.freshplaza.com