Valencia-based fresh produce association Ava-Asaja has estimated that as much as €133m worth of damage was done to fruit production in the Spanish region by frost, high winds and heavy rains that struck the country in December and January.
In terms of citrus, Valencia’s most important export crop, Ava-Asaja said the damage was estimated to total more than €122m, with some 439,000 tonnes of fruit judged as having being seriously affected to the point of having lost its sales potential.
In a statement, the organisation said that the severe frosts registered in late December and early January were the principal cause of the damage to the citrus crops, which had been exacerbated by high winds and fungal infection as a result of heavy rains.
“The situation is very delicate at the moment,” said Ava-Asaja president Cristóbal Aguado. “There is a high volume of fruit that has been damaged by the frosts that should not, under any circumstances, be sold in fresh markets.
'If we export damaged products, we would betray the expectations of our clients and consumers with the only result being the collapse of prices. We must not repeat the same errors that were committed as a result of the frosts in 2005.”
For this reason, Mr Aguado is calling on the Spanish authorities to exercise vigilance when making fruit inspections, both in the countryside and in packhouses, to ensure that citrus that is not of “adequate quality” does not reach export markets.
