A Spanish citrus sector leader has warned that a quarter of national production could be lost over the next two years as growers abandon their crops in droves.
Cristóbal Aguado, president of the Valencia growers’ organisation Ava-Asaja, said: “In two years, growers could stop production of more than 40 per cent of Valencia citrus. In the last two years, they have abandoned 10,000-15,000 hectares. The crisis in the citrus sector did not start last year. We have been living with this crisis for five or six years, but this season we have surmounted the insurmountable; the losses are intolerable. In the production of tree-fruit crops, a crisis that lasts five or six seasons is the most a family-based economy such as citrus production can bear.”
Ava-Asaja has calculated losses nationally at some €363 million (£334m), of which €221m corresponds to oranges and €142m to soft citrus.
The organisation describes the crisis as the worst in the history of the sector, with growers routinely selling below the cost of production, which has risen by
20-25 per cent year on year. Aguado said: “The €363m that has not come to Spanish citrus growers has stayed in the countries where our product is sold.”
According to a report prepared by Ava-Asaja, only 10 per cent of citrus volumes sold so far this year have been sold to programmes at pre-arranged prices. The report found that 85 per cent or more of the harvest so far has been sold at a loss.
Aguado is calling on the Spanish regional and national authorities to honour their promises and come to the aid of beleaguered growers in this sector. He said: “Now is the time for each and every one of us to discharge their responsibility… This crisis is real; it is not a question of opinion.”
