Every year 7,000 hectares of pistachio trees are planted in Spain; it is estimated that in less than 10 years, Spain will become the fourth largest pistachio producer in the world. In Europe alone, around 150,000 tons are consumed annually of a nut which is also considered to be very healthy. According to recent data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pistachio is one of the crops that has grown the most in terms of surface area in Spain until 2021.
As reported by agroberichtenbuitenland.nl, pistachio has more advantages for those who grow it, starting with its profitability. "Demand is currently higher than supply. There are few producers: the United States (California and Arizona), Iran and Turkey, mainly, bearing in mind that Turkey only covers its domestic demand".
All these factors explain the pistachio boom in Spain. It is now estimated that there are 60,000 hectares under cultivation, of which only 10% are productive; this is due to the fact that the crop does not come into production until the fifth or sixth year. Thirty percent of the crop is irrigated and the remaining 70% is rain-fed. If you take into account that rain-fed production is around 400-500 kilos per hectare per year and irrigation can increase this figure to 2,000 kilos, we calculate that in less than 10 years, Spain will exceed 10,000 tons per year, the quantity currently produced by Syria, the fourth largest producer in the world at the moment.
Source: agroberichtenbuitenland.nl
