Intensive farming in Almería

Location of the province of Almeria (Spain).

The intensive agriculture of the province of Almeria, Spain, is a model of agricultural exploitation of high technical and economic yield based on the rational use of water, sanding, use of plastic greenhouses, high technical training and high level of employment of Inputs, on the peculiar characteristics of the environment.

History

Campo de Dalías satellite image and its "plastic sea" formed by greenhouses.

The first greenhouse was built in 1963 and the technique was extended by the Campo de Dalías or Poniente Almeriense and later by the Campo de Níjar, in the east. The use of polyethylene as a substitute for glass had already been tested in the Canary Islands and Catalonia before. The plastic was spread over wooden posts or metal structures and secured by wire. The transparent plastic intensifies the heat and maintains the humidity. This allows harvests to be harvested one month earlier than in the open field and more ahead than in other regions, starting harvesting in December and allowing the plant growth of the autumn-winter plantings until March, doubling and sometimes tripling the number of harvests.

Commercial evolution

In February 2010 a new certification regulation of the N brand of AENOR for fruits and vegetables for fresh consumption came into force. This regulation describes the control system of the ISO 155 standard. This mark guarantees to customers that the products comply with quality protocols that include good agricultural practices, respect for the environment, traceability and social measures. The fulfillment of the norm covers almost all the requirements that the great European distribution demands to the producers of fruits and vegetables. These standards are homologated with the GLOBALGAP protocol.

According to data from EXTENDA (Andalusian Agency for Foreign Promotion), the value of exports of fruit and vegetables in 2012 amounted to 1,914.1 million euros, a growth of 9.7% compared to 2011. Fresh vegetables and vegetables contributed 1,665.5 million. There were 359 exporting companies, 222 regular. These sales accounted for 47.3% of the total of the autonomous community. Among the client countries are Germany, 29.7% of the total, France, 15%, the Netherlands, 13.1%, the United Kingdom, 11.3%, and Italy, 7.2%. They are followed by Poland, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark and Portugal. According to the same source, in the first six months of 2013 sales totaled 1,600 million euros, 14.6% more than the previous year.

Between January and October 2013, the province exported more than 12.8 million kilos of live plants and cut flowers, 18.4% more than in the same period of 2012. The turnover amounted to almost 18.7 million euros, 56% more. Exports of ornamental plants accounted for more than 17.8 million euros, an increase of 59% over the same period in 2012. The main buyers are France, with 59.6% of the plants, Germany, with a 14.2%, and the Netherlands, with 10.6%. They are followed by Belgium, Portugal, Italy, United Kingdom, United States and Morocco.

The specialization of farmers by a single product is increasingly observed, as is the concentration of gender marketing in a few large firms. The largest companies such as Agroponiente, Unica Group, CASI, Alhóndiga La Unión, Agroiris and Vicasol account for 35% of the market share in 2015.

Integrated pest control

In agriculture, integrated pest management (IPM) or integrated pest control (IPC) is understood as a strategy that uses a variety of complementary methods: physical, mechanical, chemical, biological, genetic, legal and cultural for control of pests. These methods are applied in three stages: prevention, observation and application. It is an ecological method that aims to reduce or eliminate the use of pesticides and minimize the impact on the environment. There is also talk about ecological pest management (EPM) and natural pest management.

Up to 2015, 60% of the area devoted to horticultural crops in the province used biological pest control techniques. The percentages are higher in some fundamental crops like pepper, 100%, and tomato, 85%. In all, some 26600 hectares of protected horticulture use these techniques, when in 2006 they were only used in about 129.

The Regional Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries of the Andalusian Government is launching a plan (Compromiso Verde or Green Commitment) in 2016 to expand the area to 100%. For the Regional Government, this is the model that should extend the distances with traditional crops and leave a definitive patent that Almeria produces with more quality, more traceability and more food security than any:

...guarantees the quality and improves the positioning of our products in international markets, increases the profitability of farms, enhances respect for the environment and minimizes the presence of insect vectors of viruses and favors the correct management of pests." (Carmen Ortiz Rivas, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development.)

Waste

Analyzes of horticultural products indicate that only 0,6% of the samples show pesticide residues, when the European average is 2,8% (five times more). Plastic waste from the greenhouses is reported to run off into the mediterranean.

Bibliography

• Vázquez de Parga, Raúl. "Campo de Dalías, milagroso oasis de Almería" (Field of Dalías, miraculous oasis of Almería), Selecciones del Readers Digest, tome LXXXIV, nº 504, November 1982, D.L.: M. 724-1958
• Several authors. "Atlas Geográfico de la Provincia de Almería. El medio – La sociedad – Las actividades" (Geographic Atlas of the Province of Almería. The medium - The society - The activities), Ed. Instituto de Estudios Almerienses, Diputación de Almería, D.L. AL 818-2009, ISBN 978-84-8108-437-5