A little more than a decade ago, some pioneers of Abanilla began to cultivate okra, a crop in which they only compete with a handful of Central American countries. "This means that, due to our geographical position, we have an advantage over our competitors in terms of exporting our okra," stated the Minister of Water, Agriculture, Livestock, and Fisheries, Antonio Luengo.
The Tropical Exports Gil fan from Abanilla was a pioneer in the outdoor cultivation of this malvácea in Spain, the Minister stated, adding that they "only had competition from Honduras, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic." The company began cultivating this product in 2010 using seeds brought from Africa, taking advantage of the fact that it's a plant from the Malvaceae plant family that can grow in our geography naturally and without problems, according to the Ministry.
The good results of the okra tests prompted the company to launch an initial low-scale marketing campaign. Year after year, the production of each campaign has doubled until it reached 300 tons in 2021, the last year for which there is official data and the first for which there is a regional balance of this product.
Its initial market is mainly the European population of African origin, as it is a very common product in their diet, according to the information released by the Ministry of Agriculture. Murcia's production is mainly exported to France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Portugal, and Belgium, but part of it is also distributed in Spain.
Source: carm.es / laverdad.es