The annual turnover is estimated at 70 million Euro and the sector employs 6,000 people during the harvesting campaign. The annual nature of the crop entails that it is planted between April and May and harvested in October, obtaining from each mother plant between 20 and 40 daughter plants, which are exported mainly to Huelva, Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria for their transplant. In this way, they bear fruit that is harvested from February to June.
In Avila, the acreage devoted to the cultivation of strawberry mother plants stands at 600 hectares, distributed between 14 nurseries. Most of them ship their crops to Huelva. Avila has nurseries working with the main strawberry cooperatives, such as Santa María de la Rabida, Grufesa, Cuna de Platero, Marifrancis, Vivero Surexport Compañía Agraria, Nuestra Señora de la Bella, Coophuelva, Frespalos, Viveros Niharra, Gardisancho, Laguna de Niharra, Cartayfres and Condado de Huelva.
Early varieties
In economic terms, it is estimated that the pre-processing costs reach 25,000 Euro per hectare (including the cost of disinfecting the soil and the purchase of the breeding plant). The processing of plants and royalties entails a cost of up to 20,000 Euro per hectare.
In Cabezas de Alambre alone, with two nurseries dependent on Huelva (Grufesa and Cuna de Platero), there are 49.09 hectares devoted to the production of seedlings and 9.33 hectares devoted to the production of fruit. The tasks carried out in Cabezas de Alambre include the harvesting, selection and preparation of the plants of the early varieties, which will then be planted in the target plantations. In the first stage of the strawberry production chain, the flowering time takes approximately one month. After quality supervision by the nursery's technicians, the best plants are harvested and prepared to be transported to Huelva. A few hours after harvesting, they are planted and looked after to ensure they grow in optimum conditions.
Cuna de Platero has been cultivating seedlings in Cabezas de Alambre for their later transplant in Huelva for over 30 years, while Grufesa's nursery has been doing the same for 17 years.
As pioneers, Cuna de Platero achieved the satisfaction of its customers with a production of between 25,000 and 30,000 tonnes of strawberries, distributed in Spain, France, Italy and Austria. Juan Báñez, manager of the nursery, assures that Avila's soil meets the necessary conditions for the planting: it is sandy, it drains well and does not soak.
For its part, Grufesa has planted two hectares of strawberries as a test, in addition to the 50 devoted to seedlings. The goal is to supply the markets with the product all year round.
Roberto Gómez has managed the Grufesa nursery in Avila since 2011. They have been set up in the province of Avila for over 15 years with their own infrastructure and have made a considerable investment, given their intention to stay there in the future.
However, this year they have not been satisfied simply with continuing the tradition, but have opted to plant two hectares of fruit, thereby controlling the entire production process of strawberries. For the time being, they believe the test "is going well."
Avila was chosen for the experiment because there was already infrastructure and some land. Gómez admits that the product is not "as nice and uniform as in Huelva," but the flavour of the strawberries is "very good." The Grufesa staff is made up of about 400 people working in the warehouse. The business is run with employees from Peñaranda, Medina del Campo, Arévalo, Segovia and Moraña. Depending on the time or stage of the production process, the number of employees drops to 40-50. Besides the staffing itself, the nursery generates wealth in the municipalities adjacent to its location through the rental of vehicles, plots, tractors and everything that the production involves.
With the project of planting the fruit, the workforce has almost doubled, with a crew in the seedling nursery and another one in the fruit nursery. This guarantees a good livelihood for the municipality's 200 inhabitants who profit from the activity even in the winter months, when most rural areas in Ávila are practically depopulated in comparison with the summer.
Shortage of labourers
In certain stages of the production of seedlings and strawberries, strawberry cooperatives notice a decrease in the demand for employment. The director of Cuna de Platero says that it is difficult to find people in the period from March to October, which is a problem, because it is one of the high peaks of the season.
Although they assure that the labour conditions are more favourable in Avila than in traditional strawberry production areas, such as Huelva, it is difficult to find labourers willing to carry out certain tasks.
"In previous years, we found as many workers as we needed," states Roberto Gómez, of Grufesa. "Now, those who used to work here have found employment elsewhere." The head of the nursery believes that with the greater "movement" of labourers nationwide, the working conditions of nurseries have become less attractive for day labourers.
While there are problems to find labourers for the seedlings, the situation is even worse in the case of the strawberry harvest. "Strawberries are like a clock that must be attended to every three days," explains Gómez. "You start your shift at five o'clock in the morning, which is tougher than warehouse work."
In Segovia and Niharra, strawberry production areas, such as Cabezas de Alambre, have also started planting the seedlings to work in their full development. If the experiment goes well, the agricultural sector in Avila will diversify, maintaining both types of production and securing the supply of the popular red fruit in supermarkets throughout the year.
Source: elnortedecastilla.es
