Spain: The Board supports the expansion of cranberry with different lines of research on this crop through the IFAPA
The Junta de Andalucía supports "in a decisive way" the diversification of the sector of the red fruits of Huelva and the expansion of blueberry in the province of Huelva with a "firm commitment" for the integral investigation of the crop, according to the president of the Institute. of Research and Agricultural and Fisheries Training of Andalusia (IFAPA), Jerónimo Pérez Parra, during the inauguration of the III Technical Conference on Blueberries organized by the Official College of Agricultural Technical Engineers of Western Andalusia (COITAND) that took place this Tuesday in the University Campus of La Rábida.
Along with Parra, the territorial delegate for Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development, Pedro Pascual Hernández, took part in the opening ceremony of the Conference; the rector of the University of Huelva, Francisco Ruíz Muñoz; the Deputy Mayor for Agriculture of the Palos De La Frontera City Council, José Manuel Pérez Márquez, and the Delegate for the Agricultural Technical Engineers Association of Huelva, Julio Volante Padilla.
The head of IFAPA has specified that, in the specific field of blueberries, work is being done on up to twenty multidisciplinary projects that address the obtaining of plant material, the development of new varieties or aspects related to the nutritional and organoleptic qualities of this red fruit. . All this, without forgetting, as it has continued, agronomic practices, the optimization of the use of water or the plant pathology linked to the crop. The IFAPA centers in Huelva, specialized in agronomy (variety evaluation, organic…) dedicate “all their research capacity” to this; de Churriana, in Malaga (focused on improving the crop); Seville and Almería (integrated control and phytopathology); and Córdoba (irrigation and nutritional value).
Numerous companies have shown their products related to the cultivation of cranberry.
The ultimate goal, said Jerónimo Pérez Parra, is that all this knowledge is transferred to the farmers, so that "it fulfills its mission", that of deriving in innovation in the exploitations and in value for the productions. For this, the IFAPA carries out an "intense work" of training that together with the efforts of other institutions such as the University of Huelva (UHU), "They come to reinforce the know-how and entrepreneurial character of a sector that has turned the red fruits of Huelva, in general, and the blueberry, in particular, into an international benchmark", has sentenced.
For his part, the territorial delegate for Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development, Pedro Pascual Hernández, has spoken along the same lines by applauding the growing incorporation of other berries such as blueberries or raspberries to the strawberry fields of Huelva, an orientation towards the diversification that, from their point of view, minimizes the risk that dependence on a single crop entails, either due to market fluctuations or the always uncontrollable weather adversities, and contributes to improving the prices of the different productions, by adjusting the supply to demand and thus avoid saturation of destinations. This, in his opinion, has a direct consequence, "the generation of more wealth and, therefore, more employment in our rural environment."
Pedro Pascual Hernández sees a convincing proof of this in the evolution of exports of red fruits, which, in the last consolidated campaign, have contributed millions of euros to the 994,29 trade balance in Huelva through the sale abroad of 340.557 tons, which it implies an increase of the invoicing of the 22,80 percent with respect to the previous exercise. "It sells more and at a better price," the head of the branch in the province has underlined.
The direct causes, from the point of view of the territorial delegate, without ignoring the "constant effort" of the sector for the modernization of the farms, rest on the growing tendency to the concentration of supply, key to commercialization, and the negotiating power of the productions; and in the diversification, with a progressive reduction in the last years of the surface of strawberry in favor of an increase of the other red fruits like the cranberry or the raspberry.
Conference attendees
In his speech, the rector of the UHU stressed that these days of COITAND "on a very attractive berry as is the blueberry" that reach its third edition are being consolidated, while highlighting the efforts of producers to improve their exploitations and varieties and the quality of blueberry from Huelva "So that the province is also recognized for the quality mark of its berries".
For his part, the mayor palermo highlighted the evolution that has occurred between Huelva producers betting on diversification and new varieties that are, in his opinion "The guarantee of success".
Finally, Volante justified the need for this type of conference in Huelva given the relevance that is acquiring in Huelva the cultivation of berries, highlighted the level of the speakers and trusted that they are a participative days that serve to resolve all the doubts of the sector on the cultivation of blueberries.
Later he began the different presentations of the Conference, in which the new phytosanitary threats to the crop have been analyzed; the benefits, both nutritional and cardiovascular, that favor human health; the cultivation of blueberries in another typically productive area such as Argentina, and nutritional tools and handling have been analyzed.
Huelva cultivates approximately 1.780 hectares of this red fruit in the province and is in continuous expansion. 90% of Spanish production (third European producer behind Germany and Poland) is mainly exported to the EU, due to the growing demand in these countries. It also stands out for being the first spring production in Europe.
Source: Agrodiariohuelva.es
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