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Challenging campaign for artichoke producers in Spain
VU
The Spanish Artichoke Consortium projects that artichoke production in 2022 will reach 220.000 tons, the same volume as last year.
However, this year, the sector is adjusting its margins due to the sharp rise in inputs, according to Antonio Galindo, President of the Consortium.
The producers will have to carefully use water, diesel, energy, fertilizers, to survive the increase in prices. The operators will have increase final prices to compensate the impact caused by the increase of products, such as the cardboard of the boxes, according to Galindo.
Artichoke production in Spain takes place 12 months a year thanks to the fact that there are different growing areas. This year, it will be divided almost equally between fresh, frozen and canned products.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPA), Murcia is the main artichoke-producing region in the country, followed by the Valencian Community, Andalusia, Navarra, Catalonia and La Rioja.
Regarding exports, Spain will send 20% of the fresh production and 80% of the industrial production to the European market (France, Italy, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom).
Despite everything, Galindo is very optimistic about this season and said it is very likely that in the future this crop "will continue to cover more hectares" given the good results of the promotional campaigns launched by the consortium.
According to Ana Juanena, the certification director of the Navarrese Institute of Technology and Agrifood Infrastructures (Intia), it is expected that the protected geographical indication (PGI) Artichoke from Tudela, which is in full production now, would produce a similar volume than in the previous campaign when the 89 PGI farmers cultivated 3.755 tons, 1.518 of which were destined to the fresh market and 1.246 were canned.
At the beginning of 2022, over 638 hectares suffered flood due to the rise of the Ebro River, and were affected by winter ice, with temperatures below zero in the morning for almost 3 weeks, according to Juanena.
