Almond crunch will increase the price of nougat, making Christmas more expensive

According to La Unió, frosts in March and April destroyed most of the production areas, and estimates suggest a 70% reduction in harvest compared to last season. Another negative result will come Christmas With a certain increase in the price of nougat, both the Alicante and Xixona Sect of Origin, which must be made with domestic almonds, and the more general one due to the fact that producers will have to import almonds. other markets. From the outset, both Asaja and La Unióc estimated around eight thousand tones lost this year, representing a gap of 17 million euros.

This is real, widespread persistent rain and the lack of hours of sunlight resulting in poor fruit set and numerous cases of fungal diseases ending the already short harvest expectations last season. Some manufacturers are even considering discontinuing their products.

In terms of temperatures, the most outstanding were the cold records of the first days of the month, in fact between both the maximum and minimum and average temperatures of the 3rd and 4th days. lowest values ​​of the series Daily temperatures in the Community of Valencia. The morning of the 3rd was the coldest day in an April since 1986.

According to the normal precipitation at each point of the regionApril had an extremely wet character in 5% of the area.Where monthly accumulated volumes exceed 200 l/m2, corresponding to the regions of l’Alcoià, el Comtat and la Vall d’Albaida.

La Unió, on the other hand, has the sector’s efforts to compensate for these losses. agricultural insurance not working. “The agricultural insurance policy in this sector is a real disaster,” they say from La Unió. In this sense, the organization considers that relevant regional and state administrations are now turning a deaf ear to changes in a line of income insurance with subscription levels traditionally not reaching 5% in many areas of manufacturers.

“It is an unattractive insurance. None of the factors to consider: damage coverage, protected production, certain franchises, coverage in rain fed areas… especially in recent years, it has been affected by the undeniable effects of climate change,” they explained. In receivable cases like this year and low implantationmost manufacturers will not have any coverage.

For the organization, in addition to inclement weather, insufficient assistance from agricultural insurance and phytosanitary problems, disproportionate increase in production costs This increase in all agriculture and animal husbandry during the second half of 2021 and in 2022 so far directly affects the average prices obtained in this campaign, which continues its downward trend compared to the last seven years. some varieties such as commune. This indicates that, in the organisation’s view, the food chain law is not working and cost increases for producers are not being transferred, at least not entirely, down the chain.

La Unió also points out: structural problems The Proposal, which took place in the sector due to insufficient aid due to the dry fruit sector in the Strategic Plan proposal sent by the CAP to Brussels last December, excludes many producers from the framework of receiving aid at the state level, even in low-yielding regions, both in almond trees, carob and hazelnut trees. constrained by the creation of slope and precipitation criteria. Also, there are many doubts in the industry regarding the implementation of Eco-regimes, with reference to the phytosanitary results from the practices to be undertaken. In the context of this sectoral disaster, hazelnut producers raise the need for urgent measures by changing the CAP application in a basic sector to protect the social fabric, which adapts agricultural insurance to the sector, supports prices and limits production costs that seem to be unaffordable. in the Community of Valencia.

It aims to convey these demands to the nation through the state organization. agriculture department to raise the alarm about a situation that is considered unsustainable and extreme. Since the nuts sector is a strategic sector in the Community of Valencia from an environmental, social and economic point of view, he requested an urgent meeting with the Ministry of Agriculture, on which many towns in our community depend heavily. extent. geography.

Almond cultivation in Alicante province lost about one 30% of hectare in last two decades due to lack of profitability for many farmers the sector, on the other hand, is embracing organic production to save valuable dried fruit.

After falling prices in some campaigns, as well as the crisis caused by the bumblebee plague in all regions, they have thrown in the towel many farmers who are betting on other large crops such as pomegranate, which already exceeds 2,000 hectares. in the province.

Also, not to mention that it’s there every time. less generational change in the field and many farms were eventually absorbed by urban oppression. Over the last five years, the curve has flattened and more almond trees have been replanted, to the point where 65% less land is devoted to this crop today, although specimens have been steadily disappearing since the eighties.

Twelve European countries, including all southern scandinavia, had twice as many hours of sunshine as Alicante in March, when the province did not exceed one hundred. The data also includes sunshine hours in tourist attractions such as Scotland and Northern Ireland, which have not recorded many sunny days since 1919. Scotlandfor example, enjoy only 1,200 hours of sunshine a year for 3 days..600 hours of sunshine in Alicantekey to tourist success.

This March 2022, for example, is also extremely wet and very cold In the Valencian community. The average temperature is 10.2 ºC, 1 ºC lower than the reference climatology (11.2 ºC) and accumulated precipitation 270.4 l/m2The climate average for the 1981-2010 period multiplied by 7.7 (35.2 l/m2), according to the State Meteorological Agency.