The boom of Persimmon crops in Valencia in recent years, due to the good profit margins it provides to producers, is also having a number of undesirable effects, alerted the Professional Association of Flowers, Plants and Horticultural Technology from Valencia (ASFPLANT).
According to the growers grouped in this entity the persimmon cultivation fever and the subsequent expansion of this crop caused a deficit in the nurseries’ supply of plants, a circumstance that has led to the emergence of a black market based on the clandestine reproduction of these plants and their subsequent illegal marketing. This trend has not only grown in recent times, to the point that currently about 50% of the persimmon seedlings acquired in Valencia have an irregular origin, i.e. they come from a black market that, unlike the legal nurseries, is not subject to any quality control and plant health.
The effects of this underground market is devastating for the nurseries that comply with all legal requirements, as the black market prices can be 50% lower than those of the regular market. As a result, the black market’s persimmon seedlings sales as well as the damage to the nurseries have increased.
According to the calculations made by ASPLANT, the nurseries have lost about eight million Euro, which can seriously compromise the future of many of them, taking into account that the financial stability of most of these businesses is tight and that the persimmon is usually one of their flagship products.
But the nurseries aren’t the only victims of this illegal trade. The Persimmon’s plant health and the quality of the plants has also suffered a considerable deterioration because the material distributed in the black market isn’t monitored, reviewed nor approved by the Administration, so it can be a possible route for the transmission of new pests and diseases.
ASFPLANT considers that the different governmental institutions should take urgent action because of the seriousness of the situation. It is imperative that the Department of Agriculture, in collaboration with other administrations, such as the Tax Office, act decisively to curb an increasingly widespread, illegal, and unacceptable practice.
More information:
Miguel Ángel Ricart
AFSPLANT
T: 610 797 802