The pear and apple contact group of France, Italy, Spain and Portugal addresses the increase in costs and the draft regulation for the use of phytosanitary products

The pear and apple contact group of France, Italy, Spain and Portugal, made up of sectoral representatives from the four countries and heads of the respective administrations, met on Friday in Bolzano, Italy, and addressed some of the main problems that concern the sector, such as the rise in costs or the proposal for a Regulation on the sustainable use of phytosanitary products. The meeting confirmed the strong impact that the increase in all production costs is having on all community farms. In Spain, the FEPEX Pepita Fruit Committee evaluated, last March, the rise in apple production costs by 40%, due to the increase in labor and, above all, because of the increase in the price of energy that had an impact on the handling process, purchase of packaging, conservation and transport, increasing costs both in the field and in the fruit and vegetable plants. The contact group also addressed one of the problems that concern pome fruit producers in Europe and the community fruit and ...