Adverse weather conditions and low prices are pushing Aragon’s cherry-growing sector into crisis

A difficult situation for fruit growers in Aragon, who are grappling with the gap between production costs and the compensation received for their products. In the case of cherries, for example, the difference exceeds €0.70 per kilogram: growers receive €0.50/kg, while labor costs alone amount to €1.20/kg.

To this figure, the fruit grower must also add the cost of technical inputs, such as fertilizers and water for irrigation, which continue to rise.

The situation is further aggravated by adverse weather conditions and the low prices applied by distributors.

The risk to the sector

According to the Regional Association of Farmers and Livestock Breeders of Aragon (ARAGA), all this could lead to the disappearance of the sector. The organization has therefore requested a meeting with the Department of Agriculture to address the problem.

“We growers can withstand this situation for one season, two at most, but we reach a point where we become so undercapitalized that we can no longer even cover the harvesting costs.

We will therefore be forced to abandon our farms,” representatives of ARAGA warn.

The problem is not new, as it has already occurred during previous seasons, and it does not affect only cherries. The same situation also affects other fruits, such as peaches.

Peach prices

For those intended for juice production, the distribution sector had sent letters to growers indicating a purchase price of €0.08/kg, equivalent to €80 per metric ton, while the price for peaches intended for processing into preserves was €0.20/kg.

“At these prices, it is not worth harvesting the fruit: it is more convenient to leave it on the ground and drive over it with a shredder,” the organization states.

ARAGA explains that the prices offered to growers in the field are “ridiculous” and also denounces the enormous gap between the amount paid to farmers and the price at which the same fruit is sold to the final consumer.

In some cases, in fact, the grower may receive around €0.70 for one kilogram of fruit whose farm-gate price should be approximately €1.50/kg.

The supply chain gap

For the same products, the final consumer may end up paying more than five euros.

The agricultural organization is calling for solutions and action from regional and national authorities to reverse this trend. It also considers a review of the Food Supply Chain Law necessary in order to prevent the disappearance of fruit farms in the autonomous community of Aragon.

Should this loss materialize, the consequences would not affect only the agricultural sector, but would also have repercussions for production areas, territorial cohesion and the protection of rural areas in Aragon, a leading region in the production of several fruits, including cherries.

Source: www.eleconomista.es

Image source: Stefano Lugli

Eva Sereno
El Economista

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