Unstable weather conditions in Spain are being blamed for an abnormal fall in the quality of this season’s Kaki crop in Valencia region, a factor that is likely to reduce overall production, according to Spanish horticultural association Ava Asaja.
Although Valencian production of the persimmon variety typically dips during mid-August, the association said this year’s fall was likely to be more pronounced than usual.
Ava Asaja president Cristóbal Aguado said “unstable weather” in recent months had provoked the fall in production, adding that younger orchards - those between four to five years old - were the most likely to be affected.
“The sharp imbalance in the climate has contributed to a considerable reduction in the next harvest,” he said.
Mr Aguado said growers had been affected by frosts between 5 to 7 March, as well as hailstorms during 16 to 18 May and also by heavy rains and hail in recent weeks.
The Valencia Kaki harvest, which begins in October, is expected to be considerably shorter than the 80,000 tonnes which were harvested until March – itself a 15 per cent increase over the same period of 2007.
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