This is the first forecast of Spanish lemon for the season 2018/2019

The first forecast of AILIMPO (preliminary evaluation) for the lemon harvest for the 2018/2019 season foresees a production of 1,300,000 tonnes in Spain with uneven growth of the two Spanish varieties: Fino and Verna.

According to these data, Spain will continue to be the main supplier of fresh lemons in the European market and the second largest processing country in the world.

The harvest of the Fino variety will begin in September and an increase of 14% is expected due to good flowering conditions – which lead to more fruit per tree – and also due to the new plantations in recent years that are now in production. A production of 920,000 tons is forecast, depending on the amount of water available in summer and the rainfall in autumn.

“The production of Lemon Fino will increase exports to non-EU markets, more tonnage to process and maintain similar volumes for European markets.”

Regarding the Verna variety, the preliminary forecast expects a harvest of 380,000 tons, which would represent a significant increase of 90% compared to last year, when production was very low, or 38% compared to the average harvest of the last two seasons (+ 9% when compared to the 2016/2017 season).

“Excellent flowering, new plantations in production and the impact of grafting orange trees with lemon Verna explain the strong growth of this native Spanish variety, which is marketed during the summer months, which means that the Spanish offer will be available for most of the year. next 2019 summer. ”