Price of artichokes increases

ARTICHOKE producers in the Vega Baja closed a successful season which saw the price of the crop increase by almost 50 per cent.
This season the average price of artichokes was set at around 60 cents which is likely to motivate farmers this forthcoming autumn to increase plantings in the southern province at the expense of other products like citrus fruits, whose prices have continued to plummet.
According to data collected by the Artichoke Association of Vega Baja del Segura, in the season just ended they have harvested more than 23,000 tonnes of the crop which is 3 per cent less than last year.
The association blamed the fall in production to the unusually high temperatures recorded during some specific times in the season.
However, despite the lower yields, the selling price has been higher than in previous years leading to profits for the sector.
The Vega Baja remains Spain’s largest exporter of artichokes, with France and Italy the main destinations for the crop.