Spain: Huelva farmers go beyond strawberry

Spain: Huelva farmers go beyond the strawberry

24/02/2016

The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development of the Junta de Andalucía, Carmen Ortiz, highlighted the commitment of farmers in the province of Huelva to crops such as berries to diversify their agricultural production beyond strawberries and specialize in red fruits : strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries.

Ortiz has highlighted "this strategic vision thanks to which the province's cultivation prospects have expanded and trials continue to be carried out to have richer and tastier varieties, adjusted to consumer tastes", at the same time that he has underlined that in recent years there is an important growth in the cultivation of other berries, especially blueberries, and it is expected that this year the total area will touch 4.000 hectares, the Board reported in a note .

The counselor, during a visit to Atlantic Blue SL, in Almonte, praised this production in a company that was the first to implement the cultivation of cranberry in Spain and has more than 13 years of experience in R + D + i with its own genetic improvement programs, which have resulted in 13 own varieties that are licensed to be grown in various countries. The production planned for this year is around five million kilos of blueberries destined, for the most part, for export.

The value of berry production in 2014 reached 86 million euros and, according to provisional data, in 2015 it would have been closed with a value of more than 102 million. The cultivation of blueberries is the one that has experienced the greatest growth, both in area and in production, since in 2015 this fruit occupied about 1.150 hectares of land, mainly in Almonte and Moguer, which produced more than 20.000 tons.

The raspberries have experienced a significant increase in the last campaigns and in 2015 it was grown in 1.715 hectares -especially in Lucena del Puerto and Almonte- which produced almost 16.000 tons. Finally, regarding the cultivation of blackberries, the total cultivation area in 2015 was close to 100 hectares and production was 1.132 tons.

Carmen Ortiz has ensured that the future of the Andalusian agri-food sector involves investing in innovation that has an impact on higher quality and better adaptation to both the climatic and physical conditions and the tastes and needs of consumers. The holder of Agriculture has affirmed that, thanks to the efforts that have been made in this sense, «The Andalusian countryside is a modern, innovative and highly technical sector, which grows every day and represents a first-rate economic potential».

Source: Europa Press