Spain could lose as much as 20 per cent of its stonefruit crop this season, following damage caused during flowering by heavy rains earlier this year, while similar losses could also be seen in Italy.
In an interview with Eurofruit Magazine, Paco Borrás, sales director of leading Spanish grower-marketer Anecoop, revealed that the 2010 Spanish stonefruit harvest is expected to fall by between 15-20 per cent, after the rain and flood damage.
Mr Borrás claimed looses of a similar percentage have also been predicted in Italy, which itself suffered heavy rains during the early part of the year.
Putting the situation in context, Anecoop’s sales director said that if the expected levels of damage only reached 10 per cent, “that would be considered a great deal”.
Mr Borrás said the rains had caused “problems with flowering”, which was likely to have consequences for the development of the fruit.
However, he added that the potentially bad news for Spanish and Italian stonefruit growers could indirectly benefit alternative crops also available at the same time, such as melons and watermelons.
