The Andalusian Government strongly supports the diversification of the berry sector and, within it, the expansion of blueberries in the province of Huelva, with a "firm commitment" to integral research on the crop at five centres of the Agricultural Research and Training Institute of Andalusia (Ifapa).
As reported by the Andalusian Government in a press release, this has been announced by the president of the Agricultural Research and Training Institute of Andalusia (Ifapa), Jerónimo Pérez Parra, last Wednesday during the inauguration of the Third Technical Conference on this berry, promoted by the Official Association of Technical Agricultural Engineers of Western Andalusia (Coitand).
This integral research will be carried out by up to five experienced centres across Andalusia, which will continue to investigate and carry out scientific-technical and R+D+i tests.
The head of the entity, attached to the Council of Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development, has specified that, in the field of blueberries, work is underway on up to twenty multidisciplinary projects dealing with aspects such as the procurement of plant material, the development of new varieties, or aspects related to the nutritional and organoleptic qualities of the fruit.
All this, without forgetting the agronomic practices, the optimization of the use of water, or the phytopathology linked to the crop, to which the Ifapa centres of Huelva specialised in agronomy (evaluation of varieties), of Churriana, in Malaga (focused on crop improvement), of Seville and Almeria (integrated control and phytopathology), and of Cordoba (irrigation and nutritional value) are devoting their entire research capacity.
For Jerónimo Pérez Parra, the ultimate goal is for all this knowledge to be transferred to the producers, so that "it fulfils its mission;" that of facilitating innovation in the farms and adding value to the productions.
To achieve this, the Ifapa is heavily involved in knowledge transfer. Over the last five years, it has organised 138 informative activities which, together with the efforts of other institutions, such as the University of Huelva (UHU), "have come to reinforce the know-how and the entrepreneurial nature of a sector that has turned Huelva's berries into a flagship product at international level," he stated.
Diversification
The territorial delegate of Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development, Pedro Pascual Hernández, has spoken in this same line by applauding the growing incorporation of other berries, such as blueberries or raspberries, to Huelva's strawberry fields; a diversification process which, he believes, minimises the risks involved in relying on a single crop, whether due to fluctuations in the market or the always uncontrollable climatic adversities.
In his view, this diversification contributes to improving the prices of different products by adjusting the supply to the existing demand and thus avoiding market saturation at destination. This, in his opinion, has a direct consequence: "the generation of more wealth and, therefore, of more employment in our rural environment."
Pedro Pascual Hernández sees proof of this in the very development of berry exports, which in the last consolidated campaign have allowed Huelva to make 994.29 million Euro from the export of 340,557 tonnes overseas.
This turnover was 22.80% greater than in the previous year, when 300,199 tonnes of berries worth 809.71 million Euro were sold to foreign importers. "We sold more, and at a better price," he stressed.
The territorial delegate pointed out that the direct causes of this, besides the sector's "constant commitment" to the modernization of farms, lie in the growing trend to concentrate the supply. Huelva, where Freshuelva is an example of associationism, already has up to 28 recognised Fruit and Vegetable Producer Organizations.
This is key to improving the bargaining power of producers, as well as to guarantee diversification. There has been a gradual reduction of the strawberry acreage, which currently stands at 6,000 hectares (it amounted to 6,400 in the 2015-2016 campaign), to allow the expansion of other red fruits, like blueberries (1,780 hectares in production today, compared to 1,380 hectares last year) or raspberries (2,130 hectares; 315 more than in the previous year).
Fuente: Europa Press
