Courgette, tomato and cucumber production and sales from major Spanish production region Almeria all suffered dramatic falls during the recent season, although pepper and watermelon sales recorded just as dramatic increases.
As a whole, the result of the 2010/11 season in the south-eastern province was a negative one, with the value of export sales down by 14 per cent from the previous season, despite the volume of fresh produce sold rising slightly by 4 per cent.
According to figures from Almerian association Coexphal, growers in the province sold 2.2m tones of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, aubergines, courgettes, green beans, melons and watermelons, with a total value of €1.2m.
However, Coexphal said that the majority of products displayed a similar pattern of an increase in production accompanied by a fall in sales value.
In the case of tomatoes, production rose by 6 per cent and sales dropped by 17 per cent, while cucumber volumes increased by 8 per cent, but fell in sales value by the same percentage.
The most dramatic fall was recorded in courgettes, which decreased in terms of both volumes and sales value, by 44 per cent and 40 per cent respectively.
In contrast, watermelon volumes increased by 11 per cent, while sales also rose by 59 per cent compared with the previous season, while higher production of green beans (by 17 per cent) was matched by a rise in sales of 23 per cent. Although pepper volumes dropped by 2 per cent, sales also increased by 9 per cent, Coexphal added.
