Lemon production for the current campaign is estimated at 850,000 tonnes, a 23% drop compared to the previous campaign.
This year’s significant drop, in overall terms, is partially due to the exceptionally plentiful previous campaign, where 1,100,000 tonnes were harvested. For this reason, Ailimpo, the Lemon and Grapefruit Inter-professional Group qualifies this production as “normal in terms of volume, taking into account that it is an average figure taken from the past seven campaigns.”
The reduction in the harvest is circumstantial owing to the bad weather conditions in the Springtime flowering and setting phases, which has attacked the later varieties, but has not affected the quality owing to the good practices performed by the farmers.
A moderate drop is expected for Fino or Primofiori lemons in the first part of the campaign, which will become steeper in the second half. The September rains were favourable and they will allow a suitable supply level to be available from September to March. Regarding the Verna variety, the drop in production could be more significant, although this estimate is awaiting confirmation over the next few months.
Grapefruits. The grapefruit harvest will reach around 72,000 tonnes, a figure that shows a 12% drop compared to the previous campaign, which included a period when a record of 81,900 tonnes was reached. Of this total, 61,000 tonnes were sold abroad, with important increases in countries such as Germany, France or the United Kingdom, with some average increases of between 20 and 30% being recorded. Exports to Saudi Arabia and the Arab markets reached around 2,100 tonnes and around 7,000 tonnes were sent to the home market, a figure that is on the rise every year.
