Julio Bacete, the president of the National Garlic Table, calculates that the sowing area, to date, may have fallen by 15 to 20% over the previous campaign; a trend that has been confirmed by the National Association of Garlic Producers and Marketers (Anpca) and by the National Garlic Table. 

Bacete stated that producers were delaying the plantings as much as possible, as they were waiting to know the availability of water and the rainfall forecast for autumn in the production areas, centered mainly in Castilla-La Mancha, Andalusia, and Castilla y Leon.

"The producers that have available water are already sowing their product, but those who don't have until October 20 or 25 to decide if they'll plant early garlic and before the middle or end of January to decide if they'll plant purple garlic," he said.

The chairman of the National Garlic Table said that production costs had increased by 40% in the last year. He also deplored the loss of profitability affecting producers and the decrease in the competitiveness of the marketing companies due to the entry of garlic from other third countries.

At the end of September, a delegation from the National Garlic Table traveled to Brussels to ask the Community authorities for measures to curb the export of Chinese fresh garlic that was being shipped to the EU as a frozen product. The delegation also expressed concern about the growing export of garlic from Egypt to the EU without quotas or tariffs, thanks to the Association Agreement between them.

The director and manager of Anpca, Luis Fernando Rubio, expressed his concern about export costs, especially because maritime freight from China costs less compared to sea freight from Europe. Sending a container with 25 tons of garlic from Valencia to New York currently costs about $12,300, while sending it from Qingdao to Valencia - a longer journey - only costs about $4,000.

According to Rubio, as a result of the drought and lack of certainty regarding water supplies, the area planted with early garlic in Andalusia for the 2023 campaign will most probably decrease and only reach 50% of the area devoted to this crop in the previous season.

Source - https://www.freshplaza.com