Leaders of the berry sector in southern Spain have estimated that this season’s campaign, which has been heavily disrupted following low temperatures during the early months of this year, will return to normal levels within 10 to 15 days.
This year’s campaign for berry growers in the province of Huelva, Andalusia, was delayed by up to four weeks by the cold weather that struck the region during January.
Speaking in regional daily Huelva Information, José Manuel Romero, president of strawberry exporters association Freshuelva said that the stabilisation of temperatures in the province was allowing for a return to normal collection levels.
But Mr Romero earlier this month told a press conference that it would not be possible for the sector to recover the financial losses that had been suffered this season because of the severe damage to crops earlier this year.
“The sector has suffered great losses - €12m worth of raspberries and €25m in strawberries – that cannot be recovered,” he said.
However, Mr Romero said that despite this the outlook for growers was “quite optimistic” because there had been a significant increase in production, while berry prices had not deteriorated. “We should not talk pessimistically or constantly view the situation negatively because that is not the reality,” he added.
Separately, Andalusia’s minister of agriculture, Martín Soler, has written to the International Herald Tribune to “express concern” at a report that suggested there were social conflicts between foreign and indigenous workers in the region’s strawberry sector.
In the letter, Mr Soler said defended the “excellent work” being carried out by strawberry companies in Huelva to manage demand for work at both a local and an external level.
