Ailimpo has released a preliminary forecast for the 2017/18 Spanish lemon campaign which points toward a production total of 1.08m tonnes.
This is similar to the balance of the current campaign that will finish at the end of August with approximately 1,090,000 tonnes of lemons harvested.
The Fino lemon campaign will begin as usual during September with exports gathering full steam in October.
Ailimpo said the water and weather conditions in the coming weeks would be the key factors in determining the eventual size of the crop.
“An overall lemon production figure in Spain exceeding 1m tonnes will enable the sector to once again consolidate its export volume to EU markets in this coming campaign,” the association said.
“Such a production will also suffice to satisfy the growing demand in the domestic market and relaunch exports to third countries outside the EU such as Canada, Brazil or the Middle Eastern countries, thus making progress in the sector’s market diversification strategy initiated a few years ago.”
Ailimpo added that the size of the crop meant there was plenty of lemons for processing, in which Spain ranks second in the world and plays a key role in regulating supply and balancing the market.
Some of the key projects the association will be working on this season include the fulfillment of field logs, accreditation of GlobalGAP and GRASP certifications, and the use of standard contracts certified by the Ministry of Agriculture enabling compliance with the Spanish Law 12/2013 establishing measures to improve the functioning of the food supply chain.
