Spanish grower distinguishes himself in the market with high end production

When you think about Spanish greenhouses and growers, you will think about the plastic operations as they are known in Almeria; Low tech, simple greenhouse structures, with just basic or no ventilation, no substrate or manual irrigation. In 90 percent of the greenhouses in Almeria, this will be the case. But a growing percentage of Spanish entrepreneurs are looking to the future, and a visit to the greenhouses of Agricola Vasan teach us that high tech growing has a place in the worlds largest greenhouse area.

With it's enormous area of plastic greenhouses, Almeria is known as the winter vegetable garden of Europe. With more then 27,000 hectare of plastic greenhouses, the growers of Almeria are responsible for a major part of the total fruit and vegetable supply during the winter months. Despite the fact that the industry is responsible for such large production figures, the industry still is very young. Starting in the 1960's, it is only the second or the third generation of growers that now operate the greenhouses.

Because Almeria is home to a young generation of growers, the mindset has been a bit conservative over the past years. In the first place many growers weren't ready to adapt to any changes, cultivation strategies or technology. However, the pesticide residue bell pepper crisis in 2007 sped up many changes. Producers were urged to think ahead, implement biological crop protection and produce on a sustainable way. Even organic and biodynamic farmers have now entered the scene as the growers became aware of the fact that they had to serve their market in Europe with responsible products.

This gave a reason for growers to look at their facilities; their customers demanded responsibly produced goods, coming from neat operations. Together with the fact that the fresh produce chain was shortened over the years, growers were in closer contact with their customers, more and more growers in Almeria decided to change course and start all over again. Picking the right special varieties and producing responsibly seemed the only option to survive.

This was also the case at Agricola Vasan; amidst many of the older plastic greenhouses in El Ejido, Agricola Vasan's modern multi tunnel greenhouses immediately catch your attention. Started as a family company, the growers at Agricola Vasan are nowadays one of the premium suppliers of greenhouse vegetables to markets in the UK, Germany and The Netherlands.

Agricola Vasan grows vegetables of a premium quality as they are in close contact with their customers; they grow red and green peppers, regular bell peppers, aubergines, Tiger striped aubergines and even black and white aubergines.

To be able to grow such special crops on a high level and with constant quality, Agricola Vasan built several multi tunnel medium tech greenhouses. Fully equipped with gas heaters and automated ventilation, as well as automated irrigation. According to one of the growers, the modern greenhouses are a perfect tool to differentiate on the market; Their crops thrive in the best climate and the quality is kept on a constant level throughout the season.

Next to this, Agricola Vasan is also committed to a tight management program. They have consultants come to their greenhouses on a regular basis, and biological crop protection plays an important role.

The question is, will more growers in Almeria invest in neat operations and management like the growers at Agricola Vasan. As the market is always moving, the customers in Western Europe are demanding more and more responsibly grown produce and special varieties. The growers in Almeria are able to grow most of the crops in their standard greenhouses, but their customers might feel more confident when the produce is grown on a higher level like Agrocola Vasan does.

For more information:
Agricola Vasan
www.agricolavasan.es