Spain: Ministry of Agriculture focusing on fruit orchard conversions

The Region of Murcia's Agriculture and Water Council considers that the fruit orchard conversions carried out during the 2006-2011 period in various towns of the province were "a key initiative to remain competitive within a very dynamic sector, subject to changing consumer demand."

These conversion plans, funded by the Council and the Ministry with 4,844,000 Euro, have led, as the CEO of Agricultural Industry and Training puts it, to "an improvement in production quality, as less profitable varieties have been replaced by new ones oriented towards the fresh market, without neglecting the canning industry, and have also been used to modernise irrigation facilities and optimise the use of water and fertilizers."

The conversions included a total of 1,163.8 hectares, mainly affecting fruit species such as peaches and nectarines, and to a lesser extent plums, apples, pears and cherries. The main reconverted areas are in the towns of Cieza and Jumilla, but also in Abarán, Blanca, Calasparra, Caravaca de la Cruz, Cehegín, Fortuna, Lorca, Molina de Segura, Mula and Yecla.

1,254 hectares of fruit trees have been removed, mainly stone fruit varieties. 72% of them corresponded to peach for processing and of the yellow flesh variety. In return, 647 hectares of new varieties of early and extra early peaches, 470 hectares of nectarines, 17 hectares of plums, 6.8 hectares of cherries and 23 hectares of pears have been planted. The new varieties, in general, present larger sizes, better colours and flavours, and are more productive.

The regional representative also stressed that "we have opted for earlier varieties better suited for Murcia's soil and climatological conditions in order to avoid competition with other Spanish regions and third countries. This way the market will not saturate and we can get better prices."

Adapatation to remain competitive

The Council had previously executed other reconversion plans for citrus and apricots to introduce new, more productive varieties better suited to market demands.
García Lidón concluded that "the stone fruit sector is subject to frequent changes in consumer demand and it is essential to adapt. If we are to remain competitive, we need to be better, more exclusive and different."

In this regard, he added that the key to achieving these goals is "research tailored to our needs." Therefore the Council, through the Murcia Institute for Research and Agricultural and Food Development (IMIDA), is carrying out various projects to obtain new stone fruit varieties as a more suitable and better adapted alternative to the soil and climatological characteristics of the Region.

Source: Eleconomista.es