Almeria's organic agriculture is gaining ground. In just two years, the greenhouse acreage devoted to such crops has nearly doubled and it currently stands at around one thousand hectares.
This will be the focus of the First Symposium on Organic Farming of Almeria, to be held on 18 and 19 May and for which 400 people have already registered shortly after it was announced.
Organization
To address what is considered the base for the future of the province, Cajamar Caja Rural, Coexphal, Biobest and FyH have joined forces and have already received the sponsorship of Agrocolor, Biocolor, Biosabor, Cristalplant, Grupo Agrotecnología, Saliplant and Seipasa Natural Tecnology.
The manager of Coexphal, Luis Miguel Fernández, stated during the presentation of the Symposium that the event comes at a key time for the planning of the horticultural sector of the future, "as this is a segment which has been recording a spectacular growth."
Demand
The fact that has raised the most interest from growers and businesses in the province is the growing demand from large distribution chains. "Until a couple of years ago, the supply of organic products was limited to specialised chains, but now demand comes from all distributors, echoing the trend observed amongst European consumers, who are increasingly concerned about safety and health in their daily diets."
The conversion is underway and, according to Fernández, it will be made quickly, "because Almeria is not starting from scratch with this type of production, as it has a long experience in the management of natural resources, such as water or soil, there is no need for large investments in electric power, with a focus in renewable energies, and great progress has also been made in recent years in the biological control of pests." In his view, all this makes the transition to organic easier than in other territories.
The event's organizers believe that it comes at the right time to meet the demands of the markets and cater to the interest of Almeria's producers in adopting a more sustainable system that could become a key to introducing their products to new markets.
Source: lavozdealmeria.es
