A cold air mass from the Atlantic is bringing changes to the weather and putting an end to the latest heat wave, and to temperatures that have inevitably resulted in significant stress for fruit crops, including the later peach varieties from the Spanish region of Aragon.

"Here, in the Zaragoza area, we have had temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius, with tropical nights, for almost 5 days, so there have been issues with calibers affecting the early and mid-season varieties, which have arrived up to 17 days in advance," said Miguel Angel Loren, of Andreea Fruits.

"The trees, which are in the open ground, exposed to the high temperatures, have gone into vegetative rest as a defense mechanism against the heat, and the fruit has not grown for a week, so we are seeing a considerable reduction in sizes."

"Moreover, there has been an abundance of Mediterranean fruit fly. This is the area producing the PDO Calanda Peach, which is bagged and hasn't been as affected by the pest, precisely because of the bag's protection, but the peaches that are not under the PDO and were not bagged have suffered plenty of damages."

"This is resulting in prices being quite good for certain calibers. For caliber 18, the price exceeds 2 Euro per kilo, and for caliber 20 it stands at 1.50-1.60 Euro per kilo. Sizes below that are harder to sell, with prices ranging between 0.80 and 1.00 Euro, in the case of caliber 24." These are low prices for a fruit that represents a very important part of the harvest, in a year in which the costs of thinning and bagging have been higher due to the greater amount of fruit on the trees.

Miguel Angel and his wife Andreea Maria Cistelecan (in the photo) produce their stone fruit on a 25-hectare farm in the municipality of Ricla. "Andreea is my wife and she is the one who puts all the care and effort into cultivating; every fruit carries part of

her love. She is the one who manages the farm together with me, and who provides the technical knowledge to make this possible," said Miguel Ángel. "We sell our peaches, nectarines and flat peaches in the domestic market, collaborating with various wholesale marketers. Now in August, with the summer holidays, activity drops in Mercamadrid and Mercabarna and increases in the inland and coastal markets, where our peaches are selling very well."

"At Andreea Fruits we supply high quality fruit throughout the summer, serving customers who demand top fruit. We are a small-medium company, and we differentiate ourselves through quality to be able to compete with the big stone fruit companies that produce millions of kilos and flood the retail shelves."

Source - https://www.freshplaza.com