Last Thursday, the Ministry of Agriculture convened for a new follow-up meeting to look at the situation for the stone fruit campaign. It was chaired by the General Director of Agricultural Production and Markets, Esperanza Orellana, and confirmed that production is still about 10-15% smaller than in the previous campaign. Production has fallen significantly for plums and increased for apricots.
In the meeting, it was stressed that the first part of the campaign has been marked by this year's exceptional weather conditions, with a long winter and wet and cold spring, which has caused an overall drop in the production.
It was also reported that the campaign is almost finished in the early areas and the timing of the Ebro Valley production has been good, with no overlap with other production areas. The Ministry of Agriculture also points out in its press release that as the campaign has developed, the arrival of mid-season varieties has improved the quality of the production.
As far as prices are concerned, the Ministry reports that, in general terms, they have been higher than last season. However, prices have been especially low in cases in which the weather has had a greater impact on quality, especially in the case of Extremadura.
Source - http://www.freshplaza.com
