Marked decrease in Spanish production

Spanish stone fruit production has fallen sharply in all the production areas. Output in Extremadura and Murcia has dropped by around 40% and in Aragon and Catalonia the figures show a 15% drop in production.
Spain is the second major European producer of stone fruit after Italy. Production takes place throughout the country which means that Spanish stone fruit is present on the market from April until mid October. Average production in Spain over the last five years has been around 1.4 million tons. However there has been a sharp drop this year which could put this season’s production at just over one million tons. Cherries have fallen by up to 40% in some areas such as Valle del Jerte and in general, the volume of peach has fallen by 20%.
The reasons for this reduced production lies in delayed fruit set due to the lack of hours of cold in November and December.
Apricot has been one of the most affected with production falling by 46% and an estimated production capacity of around 72,000 tons. Clingstone peach is another of the products where production has fallen in recent years and in contrast to the 550,000 tons being produced five years ago, current production is only just over 400,000 tons.
Nectarine and peach have also fallen by 8 and 4% respectively. Nectarine production is around 350,000 tons and peach, 280,000 tons.
The only fruit to buck the trend is plum with an almost 20% increase over last season. Production is estimated at around 157,000 tons.