Drought decimates Spain’s onion crop

Spain’s onion campaign is being affected by several factors, particularly drought which has led to a 40% drop in cultivation area. The lack of water availability has caused the cost of onions to remain very high and, after registering a 238% rise in 2022, prices at source have increased six-fold from the €0.2/kg in March 2022 to €1.30 in March 2023.

“There are farms that have had to stop collecting because they have not had water,” said Carmen Camacho, of the Coordinator of Organizations of Farmers and Ranchers (COAG), speaking to Efeagro.

During the past campaign, a total of 1.2m tons were produced in Spain, according to the latest data published by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, but this year there will be at least 30% less, according to COAG.

The Spanish regions that produced the most onion last year were Castilla-La Mancha (605,543 tons), followed by Andalucía (148,000 tons) and Aragón (95,000 tons).