Organic citrus cultivation

In Andalusia, organic citrus fruits are grown on more than 2,000 hectares, according to the annual report of Cítricos de España.

 

Valencia, Murcia, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands and Catalonia are also important regions for this product type.

 

The sector of organic citrus fruit production in Spain is constantly growing: in the entire country, citrus fruits were grown on 3,000 hectares. Spain held the third place globally last year, with oranges being the most important citrus fruit product after Italy and Greece. However, its surface is by far not as large as Italy’s, according to CAAE (Andalusian Committee of Organic Agriculture).
 

Most of the companies distributing or selling Spanish organic citrus fruits do that on the international market since Spain does not have a sufficient demand for the products. One of the aspects that can help to develop the industry for organic citrus processing in the country could be to include them in confectionery, perfumes and cosmetics.

Andalusia has more than 6,000 organic farmers and 600,000 hectares dedicated to organic agriculture, representing more than 10 % of the total agricultural area.

 

The director of CAAE, Alvaro Barrero, said that Spain was the European organic pantry but its people did not know that since they weren’t consumers.