Asaja Cordoba has reported that producers in the province of Cordoba have started the collection and mechanized grubbing-up of garlic. The surface area devoted to this crop has decreased by 20% in this campaign, so there will be a decrease in the number of kilos collected.
"The quality, however, is going to be good because it's not raining in the harvest. This is good news because the rain at this moment would darken the garlic and producers would have to sell it at a much lower price," stated the national president of the Asaja Garlic Sector, Miguel del Pino.
In previous years, the area under cultivation remained at 2,000 hectares, but this year it has decreased mainly because farmers were scared there wouldn't be enough water in the marshes or that it wouldn't rain enough.
Joint Committee on Fruit and Vegetables
On May 31, the Mixed Committee on Fruit and Vegetables held its plenary session in Lisbon. Miguel del Pino participated in the session as the national representative of Asaja Garlic and as one of the representatives of the Garlic Contact Group, which held its last meeting in France on April 28.
The Garlic Group presented what they discussed in France last month, i.e. information on the development of the current campaign by country, analysis of the current situation of the world market, harvest forecast for 2022, comparative analysis of the situation of availability of plant protection products for the cultivation of garlic, contribution of data for the preparation of the European Study of the Cost of Production of Frozen Garlic, and an analysis of the situation of the labeling of origin.
The group expressed its concerns about the sharp increase in the production costs of garlic, due to the rise in the price of all inputs (fuels, packaging, fertilizers, other materials, etc.) and the pressure from large retailers not to raise consumer prices.
They also expressed their great concern about the lack of active substances authorized to fight pests and diseases. In this regard, they call on the governments to jointly defend the maintenance of substances for which there are no alternatives. Italy, France, and Spain have stated that the tebuconazole fungicide is essential for the treatment of rust, so its use should be maintained beyond 2023. They also asked for the authorization of new molecules for the cultivation of garlic, which are already authorized for other crops, and the necessary derogations for the cultivation, in the application of a joint "article 51".
For more information:
Asaja Córdoba
Tel.: +34 957 48 06 00
asaja@asajacordoba.es
www.asajacordoba.es