Representatives from the French, Spanish and Italian strawberry sectors met in Italy last week to share information on the new season.

Growers in both Spain and Italy are expecting to produce volumes similar to 2012, while their French counterparts are forecasting an uplift in output.

Spanish producers in the Huelva region under the banner of growers’ association Freshuelva have some 6,830ha under production, while Italian growers are cultivating their crops on 3,682ha this year. The French association AOPn is forecasting a 15 per cent increase in strawberry prodction.

Freshuelva highlighted poor weather conditions in January and February. These have led to a decline in production so far this season of 18 per cent year-on-year in comparison to 2012. However, Rafael Dominguez, general manager of the organisation, believes that production will recover over the next few weeks to reach volumes similar to 2012 when the season finished with a 302,600 tonne crop.

Delegates at the meeting also looked at increasing volumes in other EU countries such as Germany where figures, from the FAO, point to an area under production in 2011 almost double that of Spain.

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