The 2014 pear campaign in Lleida has kicked off early, with harvesting running around ten days ahead of last year. Quality and sizing are reported to be good and with stock levels significantly lower than in 2013, expectations are running high that initial volumes will obtain good prices.
However, growers have raised concerns about the appearance of fire blight in several farms.
The first volumes of Limonera and Ercolini were harvested last week, while Blanquilla is due to come on stream in the next two weeks, followed by Conference, Williams and Bartlett.
Catalan producer association Afrucat is due to present the official crop forecast in the coming days, however at this stage, producers are reporting excellent quality with higher brix levels than last year and a decent sizes.
“Given the quality of the crop and reduced stocks, we are hopeful that the first Limoneira volumes should achieve a price of €0.50-€0.70 per kg,” said Pere Roqué of local union Aeall-Asaja.
Unlike stonefruit, which has seen prices slump in recent weeks, Roqué said the market seemed receptive to early pear volumes and this should be reflected in prices.
Growers are being urged to be extra vigilant following the detection of fire blight in a number of orchards in the Aragón. If the disease is discovered, growers are required to uproot the entire grove in order to prevent it from spreading.
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