Spain: The apple crop decreases 50% in eight years

The apple is not a reliable product any more and that is why farmers in La Rioja have reduced apple production in recent years. José Luis Acereda is of the few farmers who still have some apple trees amongst the dozens of products he harvests each year. "I still have them because I commercialize them, also because it was a very young plantation and I felt bad if I wasted it, but the truth is that today's profitability is minimal compared to other products", recognizes this young farmer of Calahorra.

With no doubt apple trees have substantially reduced in area in La Rioja. If in 2001 the apple crop expansion in the community surpassed one thousand hectares, during the last season it just reached 500, which represents a 50% decline that has caused a further decline in the production of this fruit.

The figures speak for themselves: in 2001 a total of 31 285 tons of apples were collected throughout La Rioja while in the last year they have collected 11 910 tons, nearly three times less what it used to be.