The National Association of Subtropical Crops has affirmed that avocado production has been stagnant for ten years, which means that the sector is losing market share in Europe, even though the fruit is said to have the potential to generate 200 million Euro and 20,000 jobs in Malaga and Granada, where they ask for water to expand their crops.
The president of this organization, José Linares, stressed that eight years ago, the sector accounted for 40% of what was sold in Europe; a percentage that has fallen to 12%, while consumption has gone from 100,000 tonnes to 500,000.
Linares presented the collective brand "Aguacates y Mangos de Málaga y Granada" (Avocados and Mangoes of Malaga and Granada), which has the support of Malaga's provincial government, and whose objective is the expansion of crops and their promotion in the market.
The president of the association stated during a press conference that they need the leftover water (the one that "ends up in the sea") of the rivers and marshes of Malaga and Granada, the provinces that account for around 95% of the national production of tropical crops, in order to expand with another 20,000 hectares of plantations.
This would be possible if there was not a "serious political problem," because Andalusia is governed by one party and Madrid by another.
"This wealth that is being lost cannot be relocated," he stressed, explaining also that mangoes and avocados are fashionable around the world, so "we are losing a market share that could be very difficult to recover."
He also mentioned that, due to the way of handling data in Spain and the European Union, there are some erroneous figures, since there is imported material, mainly from Morocco, that is sold as if it had been produced in the country.
"Being able to separate what is produced in Spain from what comes from imports is precisely why we have created this brand," with which they aim to define some European quality standards for the crops.
According to the data of this association, Spain is the main European country when it comes to the cultivation and export of tropical crops, and 75% of the production is bought by France, Germany and the United Kingdom.
Source: EFE
