In tanks more than 2000 tons of oil in Ierapetra and Sitia – producers are in despair!

After a year in which production reached 20% of the average of the past 20 years in Lassithi province, with the price of oil reaching just over 9 euros per kilo, producers expect to reach the target price of 10 euros they set. When they gave cooperatives and olive presses orders to sell their shares, they were ultimately left hanging. This is because the market reacted negatively and did not have the strength to absorb oil at higher prices, and as a result, about 2,000 tons remained unsold in Ierapetra and Sitia, while today the price of the product for small quantities fell around about 2,000 tons. 7 euros.

“In Sitia, after a bad year in terms of production and quality, more than 1,200 tons of oil remained unsold in the tanks of the olive cooperatives because the producers expected to receive more than 10 euros per kilo for their meager income and ordered the cooperative managers to keep the unsold oil in the tanks. Even now that its price has decreased, there is no buying and selling, and therefore there is general tension among the producers, who are particularly concerned as we enter the month of May and we should begin to see the prospects for a new olive growing season from now on.

The largest quantity of olive oil remained unsold in the tanks of the Second Olive Oil Cooperative, which has 270 members and serves in its modern oil press about 900 cooperative olive producers.

It is still too early to draw conclusions about the new olive growing season. In the coastal area of ​​Sitia, which is the oldest, fruit set is doing well in olive groves that were irrigated and planted early, but there is also a large percentage of olive groves that are not doing well because they have not been pruned, watered and fertilized and this can be seen from afar. “Much of the Sitia Plain is in very poor condition, and while we expected a bad year to be followed by a good year with great production, the prolonged drought does not allow us to be optimistic.”The Chairman of Setia Agricultural Society, Mr. Giorgos Tsivitakis from Godoras.

And in Ierapetra

In Ierapetra, hundreds of tons of olive oil remained unsold, after a very bad season in which production in the plains and villages did not exceed 20% of the average production over the past 20 years. The largest quantity of olive oil remained unsold in the tanks of the Second Olive Oil Cooperative, which has 270 members and serves in its modern oil press about 900 cooperative olive producers.

In Ierapetra, hundreds of tons of olive oil remained unsold, after a very bad season in which production in the plains and villages did not exceed 20% of the average production over the past 20 years.

“It is true that we have more than 120 tons of unsold olive oil in the tanks of our cooperative, as the producers who left it in our press wanted to get a price higher than the 9 euros they reached at one point. The market has been frozen for the past two months and we will call a meeting Public for our members to decide how to manage our inventory.

For the new olive growing season, we have a good picture of olive orchards planted and well maintained in the early areas of the plain in the coastal region, where fruit set has started and is going well. In the mountainous and semi-mountainous areas of Ierapetra, fruit set has not yet begun but there is good flowering. However, even if we have a good fruit set now, we should not leave the lyophyte plants to their fate. The fight against the nuclear borer and the borer must be carried out in a correct and organized manner, by the producers themselves who must regularly monitor their agriculture and intervene helpfully whenever necessary.The head of the second olive cooperative in Ierapetra, Mr. Markos Agianiotakis (farmer).

Small basket due to drought

The lack of rain and the long dry season experienced in eastern Crete are the measure of the new olive oil crop, which indicates that it could reach 30-40% of the average of the last 20 years and that would be disastrous for the region. Professional olive producers who, during the previous bad season, had a small crop barely enough to cover their farming expenses.

“Last season was very bad, and the next season will not be much better. If we reached 20% of production last year, this year we will be close to 30%, which is not enough for a professional olive producer who has no other income. Unfortunately, while walking around Ierapetra plain, I see that 70% of the lyophytes will not give income to their owners. Most of the lyophytes are stunted and not planted in the long dry season. One cannot expect to get income from these lyophytes, even if they now seem to be blooming well, they will not These olive groves have a good set of fruits and if they have a certain set of fruits, the olives will not remain on trees that do not have the strength to bear them. I estimate that the production coming to Ierapetra this year will not exceed 1200-1300 tons of olive oil, while we hardly have. Last year we reached 1,000 tons.Tell us Manolis Papadakis, a veteran olive farmer.