AILIMPO's current lemon harvest estimates for the 2015/2016 campaign predict a production of 710,000 tonnes in Spain; a figure 35% below that of last year, when a record (and thus, exceptional) production of 1,100,000 tonnes was achieved. In September, AILIMPO had already estimated a 23% drop in the harvest due to adverse weather conditions during the flowering and setting stages in spring 2015, which mainly affected the late varieties.
These data confirm, on the one hand, that the reduction in the harvest takes place mainly in the second part of the campaign, and on the other hand, that the Fino lemon harvest has fallen because of the development of the fruit's calibres, which has not gone as expected due to the warm temperatures, lack of rainfall and the early harvest at the start of the season.
Regarding the development of the campaign, AILIMPO stresses that the good farming practices carried out have resulted in an excellent quality production, with a sufficient supply to properly meet all demand. However, the volume available for the processing industry is much smaller, with a 75% reduction from the start of the campaign up until December.
Given these updated estimates, the Spanish lemon season is expected to finish earlier than last year, and as a result, there should be an early start in the European import of lemons from the southern hemisphere (Argentina, South Africa, Uruguay, etc.), which are under official controls from the EU to prevent the entry of pests, especially CBS/Black spot, canker, greening disease/ or Thaumatotibia leucotreta/False Codling Moth. Furthermore, exporters in the southern hemisphere are not allowed to use guazatine as post-harvest treatment, given that it is a banned phytosanitary product in the EU with an MRL (maximum residue limit) of 0.05 mg/kg.
