José Manuel Romero, president of Freshuelva was reported in the Spanish press warning that growers in major production area Huelva need to find new consumers for their products and need the new 25-member EU.
He said until eastern European consumers start to eat Spanish strawberries and the 25-strong EU becomes a reality, producers in Huelva may not be able to maintain existing strawberry production acreage.
Growers are therefore unlikely to increase acreage above last season's 7,500 hectares and area under production might even fall in the 2003-04 crop year.
'We must find a solution to this problem,' Romero was reported. 'Because if we don't increase acreage significantly, others will make up the shortfall and Morocco could become an enemy.' The Huelva strawberry season just-ended is the worst since 1987. 'It has been a very bad season, above all because the weather has failed us so we hope not to have those problems next year,' Romero was reported.
