It is still early to make harvest forecasts for the 2024 Spanish cherry campaign, since the first greenhouse harvests do not usually begin until the end of March, and in the open field, until the end of April.

For now, depending on the production areas, there is an important variation in the flowering state in areas under plastic, due to the influence of the weather.

“While in the low producing areas of the Ebro Valley, in the south of Tarragona, flowering is being brought forward by around 15 days due to the good weather caused by the anticyclone, the situation is very different in the earliest areas of Zaragoza to Terres de l’Ebre, including the province of Lleida, where the dense and cold fogs in the last two weeks have contained flowering,” explains Héctor Ripoll, partner of the cherry producing and marketing company Cerima Fruits.

“With only 20 kilometers of difference between the territory bathed in fog and the one not, the difference in the flowering state is very important. It should be taken into account that earlier flowering in the areas most prone to frost could be very harmful,” warns Ripoll. “On the other hand, it should be noted that in both areas the requirements for cold hours are being met,” he adds.

Regarding the Jerte Valley, in Extremadura, another important cherry production area, the rainfall has been much higher than usual so far, which could delay flowering, although the trees would wake up stronger.

Spanish cherry production in the 2023 campaign amounted to about 108,000 tons according to MAPA data, 8% below 2022. And in the Jerte Valley, in Extremadura, a loss of 60% in productive volume was recorded due to the intense rains of May. The regions of the Ebro Valley (Aragón-Cataluña) had higher production, but they did not compensate for the reductions in the rest of the national territory. The cherry area decreased slightly by about 145 hectares compared to the previous year.

_{More Information:
Héctor Ripoll
Cerima Cherries
T: +34 977 418 346
cerima@cerimacherries.com
www.cerimacherries.com}