Valencian citrus growers call for aid from the government due to profitability crisis

The Valencian Association of Farmers (AVA-ASAJA) asked the Ministry of Agriculture to provide aid to the citrus fruit sector due to the profitability crisis experienced by most orange and mandarin producers in the Valencian community.

Production costs skyrocketed more than 30% year-on-year due to higher electricity, fertilizers and fuel prices. Prices at origin fell by half compared to last year, and as a result, they put many varieties below cost, despite the fact that the prices paid by buyers have remained high or have increased.

Cristóbal Aguado, the president of AVA-ASAJA, appealed to the Government that it must act quickly because the market stabilization mechanisms are not working. The law of the food chain is being broken and citrus fruits imported from other countries, grown according to less demanding phytosanitary and environmental standards, are displacing Valencian citrus fruits in European markets.

He stressed that it is necessary to recover community preference, remove agriculture from Competition rules and rebalance the value chain. In addition, the Administration must provide auxiliary support to prevent abandoned orchards from multiplying.

According to the president, as long as there is domestic production with such low prices, not one more import would enter. 

On the other hand, at the regional level, AVA-ASAJA asked the Ministry of Agriculture to provide other aid with the Generalitat Valenciana's own funds to all types of crops that suffer significant losses in profitability (persimmons, wine grapes, vegetables, almonds and stone fruits).