According to the Minister of Agriculture, the lack of sunlight, the heat and too much rain will lead to a loss in courgette yields. Over two thirds of production is open-air, so the weather will undoubtedly effect it. Acreage has decreased (1% in a year) and production was already expected to be lower than that recorded last year. Prices consequently increased over May.
Small farms in the PACA region are having difficulties finding producers to take over the farms. The South East is the main production region but has lost 8% of courgette fields in 5 years. The Minister of Agriculture has announced that "national courgette production (112,600 tons) will decrease by 2% over the year, and 8% compared to the 2013-2017 average." Production is expected to peak in July. Prices, which are normally stable at this point in the season, have increased by 7% compared to last year and 10% compared to 2013-2017. Imports remain stable, mainly from Spain (70% of volume) and Morocco (25% of volume).
