Before the harvest began, things were already looking bad when a drop in production was predicted as a result of loss of profitability. But the reality is that far from improving, the table grape campaign in the province has gotten worse and worse. worst disaster in 30 years, because the prices paid today are the same as those paid thirty years ago. This drop in price in conjunction with lower demand, Causes damage of close to 12 million euros and coincided with the unstoppably rising costs that put farmers in a difficult position. That’s why the industry is urging consumers to buy local products in the hope that it can help improve the situation.
The increase in costs lies behind the reduction of the yield to 36 million kilograms with the 14% decrease in table grape production, which the campaign started. The unexpected thing was that the price part also got to the point where it is currently falling. kilo is paid at 0.60 euros, last year it exceeded 0.90.
Pepe Bernabeu, head of the Vinalopó Bag of Grapes regulatory board, attributes this directly to the decline in consumption, which is responding to a number of factors. “On the one hand, he explains, we found that the temperature was much higher than normal until this week, and that didn’t invite us to eat this fruit. But most importantly, the economic situation that is complex is undoubtedly favourable. people tend to buy cheaper items like oranges or apples“.
Bernabeu adds that this low consumption is causing producers to store more grapes than usual in the hopes that the price will recover with the arrival of Christmas, especially considering the twelve bells.
Costs increase 30%
Enrique Sánchez, head of industry at La Unió, underlines that at the same time that prices fell: Production costs increased by 30% on average compared to previous campaigns. “He states that the water has increased from 25 cents per cubic meter to 47 cents per cubic meter, and the fertilizer has doubled. In order to rise, they even increased the paper bag covering the clusters. It left all the producers in a complicated situation”.
Asaja’s representative in this case, José Enrique Sánchez, expresses himself in similar terms, saying that “the problem we are facing right now is consumption, very weak but also a value chain that has to face heavy taxeswhich in turn supports us not achieving any profitability”.
Therefore, the industry a call to consumers so they buy the native grapes en masse so that prices can reactivate, thus contributing to the maintenance of this crop and the large number of jobs it generates.
Source: Informacion
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