The Union of Small Producers of Andalusia (UPA) has warned that the huge growth of asparagus cultivation in the region could cause an imbalance between supply and demand, with serious consequences, especially for large growers. The campaign is starting with the production expected to increase by 10%.
The cultivation of green asparagus has been an important source of wealth for Granada's agricultural sector for many years. Many municipalities live on this crop, which offers certain guarantees to the growers devoted to it, as prices have not fluctuated by more than 10 percent in recent campaigns.
This stability has turned asparagus into a kind of "green gold", very attractive for producers in other parts of the region, like Seville and Malaga. This boom in the sector is resulting in an ever expanding acreage, which will logically entail a significant increase in the production.
The UPA has warned that this increase in the production of green asparagus could eventually cause an imbalance between supply and demand, which would lead to significant price drops.
According to the estimates of the association, this situation will cause a restructuring of the sector in the short term which will mainly affect the producers with bigger plots devoted to the crop, since they are the ones that need to hire more staff for its harvest and processing.
"There will be a fall in prices because the growth of the acreage is potentially greater than that of consumption, and although the export quota, which ranges between 72 and 75%, increases the consumption levels, those could never grow as quickly as the acreage," comments Nicolás Chica, General Secretary of UPA Granada.
According to forecasts, the green asparagus sector would remain as a social crop with small areas that would amount to around 1.5 hectares.
"The growers who require a larger hiring of assets will be the most affected by this restructuring that will surely come," warns the representative.
Last year, climatic adversities caused production losses of almost 50%; however, this year's production is expected to be 10% greater than in a normal season due to the good weather forecasts and the expansion of the acreage. On average, between 38 and 40 million kilos of green asparagus are produced in the province of Granada alone, but this year's prospect is to reach 50 million. In Andalusia as a whole, this year's production may reach 65 million kilos.
Exports
75% of the Andalusian asparagus production is exported abroad, mostly to France and Germany, although shipments are also made to Switzerland, the UK, Denmark, the Netherlands, Italy and even Lithuania.
"We are very worried about the rapid growth of the asparagus acreage; the asparagus producers par excellence are expanding their acreage, but new growers and new regions are also following this trend. This will lead to a situation where all this production cannot be absorbed by a market that is growing, but not at the same level as the production," points out the expert.
At UPA, they believe that the solution to this situation lies in addressing three fundamental aspects: firstly, the administration should organise promotional campaigns for green asparagus in both the domestic and international market; secondly, we should aim for a concentration of the supply similar to the one of the demand, since there are five large distribution groups that control almost 80% of the market; and lastly, they also consider it necessary to set limits to the expansion of the acreage.
Source: eleconomista.es
