An emergency plan for the peach and nectarine sector in Spain

AFRUCAT (Asociación Empresarial de Fruta de Cataluña) proposes an emergency plan, with a series of short- and long-term measures, including the proposal to pluck 10,000 hectares of orchards throughout Spain.

 

 

 

The AFRUCAT Fruit and Vegetable Committee (Asociación Empresarial de Fruta de Cataluña) at its last meeting decided to promote an emergency plan for the peach and nectarine sector. This plan consists of a series of short- and long-term measures, including the request to the Ministry of Agriculture for a 10,000-hectare grubbing-up plan throughout Spain divided between the Cataluña, Aragón, Murcia and Extremadura.

 

 

 

AFRUCAT estimates that the grubbing-up measure would reduce Spanish production by 25% and pressure on market prices. The association estimated that the Catalan stone fruit will lose 90 million EUR this season and that the Ministry of Agriculture should invest 50 million EUR to encourage the grubbing-up plan.

 

 

 

Among the other measures proposed: reducing the tax burden on fruit producers; agreements with banks to obtain advantageous loans; investments to reduce costs with the implementation of innovations; promotion of consumption; and opening of new markets for Spanish fruits.

 

 

 

The 2019 season of stone fruit was marked by a large European production of peaches and nectarines. The market was saturated due to the large amount of stone fruit in the traditional European markets.