Spain: The garlic sector takes advantage of its moment

The garlic harvesting campaign will begin in about two weeks in the province of Córdoba, an activity of great economic importance in some municipalities in the south of the province. According to a report from the Territorial Delegation of Agriculture of the Junta de Andalucía, the area cultivated with this vegetable, which usually goes up to around 2,000 hectares, is centered in the municipalities of Santaella, Córdoba capital and Hornachuelos.

The provincial and national president of the Aja de Asaja Sector, Miguel del Pino, reports of the season, which takes its first steps at the beginning of May, “it presents very well in terms of production and” quality due to the good weather conditions. “The agrarian leader recorded that it is a crop that is not suffering the effects of the drought that has plagued the Cordovan countryside since last year, since” many of the farms are irrigated and the plant needs water at very specific times ”

The also vice president of the National Garlic Table predicted that the harvest in Córdoba, the main producer in Andalusia, will be around 30,000 tons this year, 45.4% more than in the 2019 campaign when it reached 20,630 tons, according to Las official figures published by the Junta de Andalucía.

The agrarian leader highlighted the great importance that China has in this agricultural sector by taking up 83% of the world market. However, the reduction in sales due to having suffered the coronavirus health crisis in that country increased the demand for Spanish connections. “This has allowed prices to have increased by means up to 50% to 3 euros per kilo,” stressed the representative of Asaja.

Enjoy the moment
“Our ajera industry must take advantage of the two months that we are alone in the market, since Chinese production does not arrive until July, to sell its goods at the good prices that are currently available,” from his point of view. Del Pino recalled that the European Union (EU) establishes tariffs on the entry of Chinese Chinese from 35 million kilos, but warned of the Chinese harvest that it has been snatching some markets where the presence of the Spanish sector was mayor for some years, such as the case of Brazil. Only a mole in the campaign that is at a starting point, but it can destroy all these good forecasts, as confirmed by Del Pino. It is a shortage of labor for collection tasks. According to his calculations, between 1,500 and 2,000 temporary workers will be required.

Posted in:Coop. Extremeña de Ajos de Aceuchal

Source: sevilla.abc.es