This follows snowstorms and low temperatures in Greece, which adversely affected fruit on trees in Argolis, Arta and Korinthia earlier this year. However, the Italian season has slightly improved in spite of a drought and cold temperatures.

Consequently, fresh orange production in Greece is expected to be down by 27 per cent to 800,000 tonnes and lemons and tangerines by as much as 60 per cent to 57,000t and 40,000t respectively.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, this could not have come at a worse time for growers who faced freezing spring weather in 2001. This situation has been aggravated by stiff competition from Spain, Turkey, Israel and Morocco.

Italian growers are facing difficult times despite their marginal increase. Competition from Spain and other Mediterranean and North African countries is heightening, meaning market share on both home and export markets is increasingly being squeezed.

This situation is being compounded further by high production costs and fragmentation within the industry at large – the average size of holdings is less than one hectare, leading to high transport costs. The distance from key markets in Europe is also a challenge.

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