The Algarrobo-based company Frunet, specialised in the production of organic vegetables, is building the largest and most state-of-the-art greenhouse of the province in the municipality of Vélez-Málaga. With an area of 5,000 square metres in one piece, the facilities, which will feature the latest developments in ventilation and humidification control systems, will require an investment of 800,000 Euro.
According to the general director of Frunet, Antonio Lavao, it is a state-of-the-art greenhouse that incorporates even the use of white and non-galvanised lacquered steel, as is the case in the majority of new facilities of this kind, with the aim of improving the greenhouse's luminosity and reduce the indoor temperature at the same time.
Lavao also stated that the greenhouse, which will allow the company to create between 10 to 15 new jobs (it currently has an average workforce of 45 workers in the field) will have the latest advances aimed at facilitating maximum control of the climatic conditions inside the facilities. "Our goal is to have the construction works finished before August, so that we can start the cultivation campaign around that time," stated Lavao.
With this new greenhouse, the company plans to increase its production with another half a million kilos of organic vegetables. The company annually exports around 10,000 tonnes of organic vegetables (tomatoes, cucumbers, courgettes, aubergines and peppers, among others) to the European Union, as well as avocados, mangoes (which are also produced in organic conditions), papayas and pineapples.
The new greenhouse is being built on the Torrox Road, in the municipality of Vélez-Málaga, next to the junction of the A7 motorway in Caleta de Vélez.
For Lavao, this move responds to Frunet's commitment to organic production and to having the most modern facilities possible.
The total greenhouse acreage in the Axarquía amounts to about 740 hectares; down by more than 100 hectares since 2011, mostly due to the expansion of subtropical crops.
Another three in Torrox
Although greenhouse cultivation is losing ground in the Axarquía, Frunet's new facilities are not the only ones to be built in the area. Domingo Medina, another entrepreneur and producer of tropical fruits, is planning the construction of three greenhouses with an area of approximately 20,000 square metres in the municipality of Torrox.
These are chapel type polycarbonate greenhouses (not plastic, to ensure they have more light) which will require an investment of 700,000 Euro.
According to Medina, they will feature the latest advances in irrigation systems and temperature control. The idea of the promoter is to use one of them for the cultivation of papayas and the other two for organic horticultural crops.
Source: diariosur.es