The president of the Artichoke Association Vega Baja del Segura, Diego Martínez, has pointed out that the "drought has slowed down the sector's plans" for the crop's expansion which has been underway for some years. Martínez explained that between 2012 and 2016, 300 hectares of artichokes have been planted in the Vega Baja, which means that the acreage has increased by more than 20% in four years.
Regarding the production, Martínez points out that "everything will depend on the water we have available for this campaign, so it would be very risky to talk about figures now, when there are still many months ahead and too much uncertainty regarding water availability." Given this situation, the president of the Artichoke Association Vega Baja del Segura has called for "a solution to be found so that this problem can be solved once and for all."
Diego Martínez adds that "the threat is not only from the drought, but also inicludes the canned artichokes coming from Peru, or the frozen ones from Egypt."