Lettuce growers count cost of rainfall

Producers in Spanish regions of Murcia and Almería predict average export falls of 35 per cent during weeks 17, 18 and 19
Lettuce producers in the Spanish regions of Murcia and Almería have revealed that they are likely to experience major decreases in iceberg lettuce production during the final weeks of the 2009/10 campaign as a result of rain damage to crops.
According to Murcia-based producer-exporter association Proexport, volumes collected over the weeks through to mid-May are expected to be "far below" levels recorded a year ago, at a time when demand for salads is "growing vigorously" in export markets.
In a statement, the organisation forecasted that production for export markets would fall compared with last season by an average of 34.6 per cent during weeks 17, 18 and 19 through to the completion of the campaign.
However, Proexport said that if temperatures improved in the regions and crops overcome the quality problems caused by the intense rains recorded earlier this year, there was likely to be some improvement in production.
The association's managing director, Fernando Gómez, said: "Since the start of the year, the development of Spanish iceberg lettuce exports have been jeopardised by outside factors, in the form the weather.
"This has affected the crops that producers had hoped to harvest over the coming weeks, meaning that in no sense will they repeat the export levels we had during the similar dates in the previous campaign."