Citrus production is Andalucia is expected to increase this season by 28 per cent to an estimated 1.5m tones, according to a new forecast released at a recent citrus conference held near Seville.

Delegates to the ‘Citrus Marketing and Fresh Produce Safety’ conference in Lora del Río heard that orange volumes are forecast to reach over 1m tonnes, while mandarin and lemon volumes are expected to total 244,212 tonnes and 183,197 tonnes respectively.

Production increases are expected to take place across Andalucia, where there is a dedicated 25,000ha under citrus cultivation, with the exception of the provinces of Málaga and Granada, which are likely to experience a slight fall in volumes.

The provinces of Sevilla and Huelva are set to be at the forefront of Andalucia’s citrus sector this season, with each region expected to produce more than 400,000 tonnes of fruit during the campaign, predicted the forecast, which was prepared by AE Consulting.

In total, this season’s Spanish citrus crop is expected to reach 6,540,814 tonnes, a 22.6 per cent rise over the previous campaign’s poor harvest of 5,334,228 tonnes, according to European interprofessional fresh produce organisation Freshfel.

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