The Council of Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development of Andalusia continues betting on the improvement and control of the horticultural production in order to guarantee the maintenance of an environmentally-friendly agricultural production system. To illustrate this, it has highlighted that Almeria has more than 2,000 hectares of greenhouses devoted to organic production, as pointed out by the territorial delegate of Agriculture, José Manuel Ortiz, during the closing ceremony of the Healthy Food Days organised by Keops Agro and Ecovalia, where it has been analysed how external factors and food affect human and plant health, as well as how to act to be healthy and have healthy crops.
Ortiz recalled that Almeria ranks first among all Spanish provinces in terms of agricultural production, with over 57,600 hectares of greenhouse crops (50% with two harvests per year) and open-ground fruits and vegetables in the current campaign. In that sense, Ortiz assured that the Government of Andalusia has different plans in place "to ensure that organic agricultural products meet the standards established in regional, national and European regulations for aspects such as maximum residue limits, cleaning of the fields, sanitary controls, etc."
The regional government has also set up different forms of aid focused on improving the environment and the rural agricultural environment, such as basic payments to producers who enforce environmentally-friendly practices, financial support to organic farming, or measures related to climate, organic production, integrated production, etc.
The territorial delegate of agriculture has highlighted that Andalusia is the main producer of organic crops in the country thanks "to the promotion and environmental commitment of our producers" and has pointed out that the result of this work has allowed Almeria to have Andalusia's second largest acreage devoted to nuts, with 40% of the total acreage devoted to organic nuts.
As for the acreage devoted to horticultural crops under plastic, in five years it has gone from 892 hectares to almost 2,010 hectares; a 44% growth.
Significant is also the number of operators in Almeria in relation to all of Andalusia. It is the province with the highest number of operators, with 2,969 (28% more than in 2015). 21% of Andalusian operators (agricultural producers, ranchers, industries, etc.) are in Almeria. Moreover, over 48,000 hectares were devoted to organic production in Almeria last year; 12% more than in 2015.
During his speech, the delegate also mentioned the number of organic companies in our province: a total of 224, which is 17% more than in 2015 and "represent about 13% of Andalusia's total activities in the organic sector." Of these, the packaging and handling of vegetables stands out the most, with 108 centres (9% more than in 2015). It is noteworthy that Almeria accounts for 30% of all centres devoted to the packaging and handling of vegetables in Andalusia, and it also has 18 centres for the handling and packaging of nuts, which is 23% of Andalusia's total.
José Manuel Ortiz insisted that "fresh vegetables and fruits produced in our fields are safe and healthy, as evidenced by several studies carried out by the University of Almeria."
In the framework of this commitment from the Andalusian Government to promote the consumption of organic products and foods, Ortiz has explained that boosting the consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables is considered a priority for the Departments of Agriculture, Education and Health, and to this end, fruits and vegetables have been distributed for free in schools and there have been events organised with the presence of great chefs, as well as healthy breakfasts in educational and health centres, "all of them aimed at promoting the health properties of these products," concluded the delegate.
Source: teleprensa.com
