In 2010 some Canarian producers accepted the proposal of the town hall of Tenerife to carry out a study on pitaya. "It was an unknown product and we were the first to cultivate it in Europe," stated Isora Garcia, the manager of Pitaber Canarias, located in the municipality of Arico. "We like to anticipate market trends and we saw that it was an alternative."
They were absolutely right. Eleven years after betting on this fruit from Central America, their clientele includes Mercadona, Lidl, Grupo Dinosol, and Comercial Jesuman. "Mercadona orders two pallets daily, each with 400 kilos," she said.
In 2010 they started with 7,000 m² of pitaya greenhouses and in 2021 they already have 50,000 m²: the production of Pitaber Canarias has grown exponentially, from 2,000 kilos per year to 150,000. The goal is to reach 270,000 kilos.
"Pitaya is an alternative crop that is succeeding in the Canary Islands," the Ministry of Agriculture stated. "In 2010 there was a boom and we started training people to produce pitaya," stated Manuel Redondo, technical secretary of Coag in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. These training courses were one of the keys that have allowed the islands to be at the forefront of national pitaya production with 25 hectares.
The pitaya is also grown on the peninsula
This subtropical profitable fruit is not only seducing producers in the Canary Islands, but also in the Peninsula. The product is being grown by farmers in the southeast of Spain. The largest farms are located in the surroundings of the Costa Tropical (Almuñecar or Motril), in Almeria (Níjar and El Ejido), and Seville.
They are also grown in Murcia, where Miguel Angel Morales became the Region's first pitaya producer six years ago. "I even beat the nursery companies," this businessman from Mazarron said in a humorous tone. In 2015, he traveled to El Ejido to learn in situ the benefits of the papaya that was grown at the Cajamar Experimental Station: a technological center for intensive Mediterranean agriculture.
The goal of that trip was to find an alternative to the low profitability of his farm. "I was interested in the papaya because the tomato and cucumber were doing bad in the market, but I liked the pitaya and I put a greenhouse with 130 plants." Currently, he has 5,000 plants. "My production ranges from 30,000 to 50,000 kilos a year and in March I will expand it by adding 2,400 plants."
Source: elespanol.com