Iceberg lettuce could be in short supply in the coming weeks following a warning issued by growers groups that the unseasonably mild temperatures are curbing plant development.
Proexport and Amopa said the 2015/16 season had so far been highly unstable because of the atypical climate, which has brought production forward and caused weeks of oversupply.
However, from March there is likely to be a shortage as volumes and individual head sizes fall.
Instead of the usual 9 and 10 counts, there will be a predominance of counts 12 and 14. Proexport and Amopsa said plants have been unable to develop in optimum conditions because their early evolution had made them more susceptible to the cold and windy conditions that have hit production zones during the past two weeks.
As a result, they estimate that volumes will fall by more than 30 per cent in the coming weeks compared to this point last season.
Two weeks ago, producers were forced to destroy large quantities of lettuce as market prices slumped.
Spain produced 723,848 tonnes of lettuce in 2015 with a value of €631m. It is Murcia’s leading horticultural export, with shipments reaching 501,985 tonnes, equivalent to €423m. Murcia supplies 70 per cent of Spain’s entire export volume.
