Spanish lemon trade body Ailimpo has released forecast figures for the upcoming season and predicts an overall 35 per cent uplift on last season. According to the Murcia based organisation, the crop in the 2005-06 season is likely to be "much greater" than the season just ending.
"Considering the fruit that is on the trees and its size, the harvest could be even greater that that of 2002-03 when we had 950,000 tonnes," said a spokesman. Fruit volume and development is very good at this stage, although Ailimpo admitted that a more accurate evaluation would be available in September, and summer heat and September rainfall could yet take their toll.
The summer lemon variety Verna is forecast to increase production by a massive 200 per cent and Fino lemons are also expected to see a hike, although not to such an extent. The trees themselves are also recovering well from late spring frosts. Fruit size is also encouraging - in most areas Fino lemons are 35mm in diameter with clone varieties 49 and 95 showing diameters of 40-45mm and Verna fruit at 40mm.
This season just finishing was very low in terms of volume compared to recent averages at 700,000t due to fruit loss from trees in January and February. Spain has also experienced stiff competition from Turkey and from Argentina. Spanish senders are aware they will have to work hard to recover market share.
Meanwhile, producers in Tucumán in north-western Argentina, the main growing area in the country, are destroying their lemons as overproduction has made marketing unviable.
"This is new; we have never seen anything like this," Roberto Sánchez, vice-president of the Tucumán citrus association (ATC) told the Argentinean press.
Prices paid by industry have fallen below what it costs producers to harvest and transport fruit to the juicing plants. Growers are still having to pick fruit to bury or dump in order not to prejudice fruit yields next season by leaving it to rot on the trees.
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