The high temperatures registered in the region of Murcia in recent weeks are causing great concern among agricultural producers, who fear that their crops' seasons could be affected. For the past few weeks, maximum temperatures close to 20 degrees have been registered in large areas of Campo de Cartagena and Guadalentín, where the vegetable harvest has already started.
But what worries these growers the most is that these very high temperatures are also 'slamming' Central European countries, consumers of our products at this time. The lack of cold in these areas is allowing them to supply the market with their own production, without the need to import, causing demand of foreign produce to be between 20 and 30 percent lower than usual.
Jesús Abenza, of Alimer, explains that the campaign "is planned each year based on the assumption that the weather conditions will be normal, but every season is a new experience from which we must learn." He stresses the fact that the maximum temperatures "should be lower, and the minimum ones too," and points out that the lettuce and broccoli harvests have already started.
Cold wave expected in Europe
"Paradoxically, the best that could happen to growers in Cartagena and Guadalentín is the arrival of a cold wave in central Europe," explains Abenza. He says that when such weather conditions are registered, "Murcia is not usually affected by intense cold, which makes us the largest, if not the only ones capable of supplying some areas." In any case, it must also be said that in the event that the cold wave reached south eastern Spain, the catastrophe for Spanish crops would be guaranteed.
