Spanish vegetable producers are calling for more help from Brussels to deal with the growing crisis within the sector. A glut in production brought on by the unseasonably warm winter has sent prices plummeting across Europe.
The Union of Small Producers and Livestock Farmers, UPA, held a meeting with the Agriculture Ministry this week to highlight the serious management and planning problems producers are facing.
Fepex said it would request additional support from the European Union at the next meeting of the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council, which takes place on 15 February, including an increase in the withdrawal price for fruits and vegetables, and tighter controls on tomato imports from Morocco.
Grower unions are now warning that the high temperatures could threaten other crops such as stonefruit and almonds by bringing forward the blossoming process and increasing trees’ exposure to the risk of frosts.
The situation is being compounded by below-average rainfall in central and eastern regions since the beginning of the year.
“The climate has caused huge gluts in the market and sunk prices, while the EU has dismantled the market management mechanisms designed to help producers in these situations,” a UPA spokesman said.
Producers in Murcia announced this week that they would have to destroy “massive quantities” of iceberg lettuce due to the “ruinous prices” in both the fresh and processed market.
According to Proexport, farm-gate prices are hovering between €2.00 and €2.80 for a box of 10 lettuces, well below the €4.50 cost of production.
“These conditions are untenable, but producers have been pushed into a corner and feel obliged to sell at these prices for fear of losing their customers,” Proexport said in a press release.
