After two particularly bad years due to low production, the citrus sector in the La region Guadalquivir Valleywhere there are approximately 12,000 hectares, faces a new campaign with better harvest prospects, although without reaching normality, thanks mainly to the rains that fell in March and October mainly.
Precisely, the precipitation that fell last month prevented the harvest of the first varieties on the farms, a bit like what happened with the olive grove. This season is also marked by the drama that occurred at Valence. Levante is the main orange producing and industrial area of Spain, so the effects of Dana on the agriculture of this province will indirectly lead to greater demand for this fruit from Cordovan companies in this sector, according to those consulted by ABC.
The capacity of the 2024-2025 campaign announced in September by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development anticipated a production of 347,058 tonnes for Córdoba, compared to more than 226,000 tonnes collected during the 2024-2025 campaign. season previous, which represents an increase of 53.4 percent. This increase is the largest recorded in Andalusia, Seville and Huelva being, once again, the provinces where a larger harvest is expected, with 969,930 and 570,149 tonnes respectively.
The Régie justifies this improvement by the fact that “the agricultural year was characterized by a substantial increase in precipitation compared to the previous year, at the same time as the increase in precipitation” irrigation equipment“Although below the optimal level, it also contributed to significantly improving the vegetative state of the plantations.”
Asaja and orange palm tree They also anticipate an improvement in the quantity of oranges harvested at the end of the season. However, its forecasts are more modest, placing this increase between 30 and 40 percent. “The spring rains and the fact that in spring it was not too hot allowed a good flowering “They are at the origin of this increase, in addition to the rains in October which will help the oranges to have a larger size”, underlined the technician of the agricultural association, Eduardo Eraso. For his part, the president of the citrus association,
Antonio Carmona confirmed that there will be more oranges on the market this year, but recalled that the final harvest will be of a normal quantity. “There will be no overproduction with certain returns “which will be between 30,000 and 40,000 kilos of fruit per hectare depending on the varieties”, underlined the manager.
The October rains also prevented the first session of the citrus market, although it should have taken place this week. Despite this, according to Eraso, “the price outlook is good because the demand for juice in the international market is very high, to which are added the production problems experienced by countries like Brazil.” Carmona agrees with these estimates, although he emphasizes that “we will have to be attentive at the beginning of the year when the oranges arrive from Egyptwhich already brought down prices here last season.
In this sense, Asaja once again denounces unfair competition from third countries by “requiring fewer requirements”. phytosanitary and of a professional nature only for us. For Carmona, this greater production is essential, as it should help recover some European markets lost over the last two years, which the Egyptian industry has taken advantage of to gain these customers, although he acknowledged that it would be a complicated task.
The start of the campaign has been indirectly shaken in recent weeks by the disaster of Valence which, like any natural disaster, has the main consequence of deaths and significant accumulated damage. But it also has economic consequences. The loss of the harvest, supposedly certain in this area, will mean that suppliers who traditionally went there to source oranges will now have to move to other locations, as is the case in Córdoba.
A tractor driver picks up crates of oranges during a harvest on a farm in Seville
This is what the head of Palmacorta believes, who indicated that the industries of the Vega del Guadalquivir have already noticed an increase in orders, “although in a slight way and we do not expect a great impact at a general level, since the most affected municipalities are located on the outskirts of Valencia and do not have much surface area citrus“. In this sense, Eraso emphasized that “it is predictable that, because of what happened in Valencia, companies will buy more oranges than in Andalusia and Cordoba, due to the law of supply and demand, although until we know the damage that has been generated there, we cannot know how much it will affect here.
Lack of workers in the pit
As is the case with other crops, citrus growers in Vega del Guadalquivir real difficulties find labor for collection work.
“It is a very worrying problem that is getting worse every year and will become more visible as the campaign progresses,” said Palmacorta President Antonio Carmona. Sunaran’s manager also indicated that this lack of workers It is more significant during harvest, although it is also noticeable in warehouses and he warned that “it may not be possible to harvest all the fruit.”
For his part, Asaja also reported this situation. “Citrus fruits are perishable products which must be picked within a very specific period of time, to which is added the fact that the first part of our season coincides with that of olive grove“, as explained by the technician of the agricultural employers’ union, Eduardo Eraso, who assured that “some agricultural entrepreneurs already have serious difficulties in training their teams”.
