Better, but not as expected. This is how it is presented in Cordoba olive campaign 2024-2025, which officially began on October 1 and which, on this occasion, adds a total area of 374,271 hectareswhich is around 1,600 more than the previous season. All the people consulted by ABC agree that the harvest will be higher than those recorded in the last two years, which is not too difficult because in both cases the highest olive oil figure decade-long low has been recorded.
However, black dark clouds which weighs on the sector because the lack of rain at the end of summer and in the first days of autumn raises fears that the forecasts that existed a few months ago will end up exploding if this continues. rain in October.
The first estimates were known last week. The capacity presented by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development indicates that the forecasts of sharpening of liquid gold of more than 180 oil mills installed In Córdoba, it would reach 271,000 tonnes in the next campaign, or 78.7 percent more than the production corresponding to the previous period, when it barely exceeded 143,000 tonnes.
In addition, it is 28 percent higher than the average of the last five years. With all this, Córdoba will maintain its second place in the national and regional ranking, just behind Jaén, which will achieve a harvest of 445,000 tonnes.
The causes of this improvement must be sought in meteorology. This document from the Andalusian Government indicates that “the agricultural year 2023-2024 took place with abundant rains between the months of February and March, relaxing irrigation restrictions in many regions, without compensating for the significant deficit water which has been going on for some time. time.” years”. Likewise, it is indicated that “currently, we observe a difference between the dry farms and irrigation, with wrinkled olives in the first.
For the director of the Cordoba Association of Industrial Oil Mills (Acora), Macarena Sánchez“this increase in production is due not only to the greater volume of precipitation in this agricultural year, but also to the absence of harvest in previous years, which will allow the olive tree, after two seasons at the historic low and counting given a moderate growth of the shoots of the previous year, offer a harvest medium high in this season.
dry land
However, he also said that “prospects of a larger harvest could be diminished due to the lack of rain in recent months, as olive groves in dry areas are seriously affected by this lack of rain, as well as certain olive plantations. irrigation with insufficient water supply.
For his part, the provincial president of the Agri-Food Cooperatives of Andalusia, Rafael Sanchez de Puertaapproved the Council’s harvest forecast. Of course, “compliance with these estimates depends on immediate and sufficient rain, because if this does not happen, we will not be able to achieve the current quantities.”
“THE points of view “They are not good because in September there was practically no rain and temperatures are high, which is particularly harmful to farms in arid zones,” according to the general director of Dcoop.
The general secretary of Asaja de Cordoba, Rafael Navashighlighted the thesis that the Council’s study could undergo variations due to the meteorological situation derived from the low level of precipitation produced last month.
The autumn rains which have just begun could be decisive for the harvest to experience the expected recovery.
“In any case, it will be better than the last two years, but we must remember that production in those years was very bad,” said the representative of the agricultural employers’ union, which also had an impact on the drop campaign link which was recorded this time, the lowest in the last two decades, according to the professional organization, with just under 22,000 tons of oil in the cellars of the oil mills Córdoba and just over 138,000 across the country.
He price Olive juice has seen a slight decline in recent weeks, although it remains at high levels reached in previous months.
Last week, extra virgin was paid at 7.5 euros per kilo, according to official statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development of the Junta de Andalucía. These values are 8 percent lower than the same dates in 2023, but almost double which was paid 24 months ago.
