AVA-ASAJA talks about the profitability crisis of the Valencian producers and warns that it has translation in the increase of agricultural lands that have been abandoned in the last year.
A study by the Valencian Association of Farmers (AVA-ASAJA), prepared based on the Esyrce survey of the Ministry of Agriculture, confirms that, in 2022, the agricultural area of the Valencian Community left uncultivated increased by 6,437 hectares, which means an interannual increase of 3.9%. They warn that with this count "their historical record is pulverized", with a total of 171,386 abandoned hectares.
In the analysis presented by AVA-ASAJA, all the main Valencian crops experienced a significant decrease in their area, with citrus fruits leading the way. They lost 6,151 hectares, which implies 4.1% less compared to 2021, going from 149,648 to 143,497 irrigated hectares.
The vineyard fell by 2.9%, with 1,953 more uncultivated hectares, in similar terms to the olive grove, which fell by 2% with 1,968 hectares. Other productions with a negative trend were vegetables and flowers (-9.6%), persimmon (-2.1%) or stone fruits (-0.8%).
On the contrary, kiwi (12%) and avocado (0.07%) grew their cultivated area with a still minority presence and the association highlights the increase in family orchards, dedicated mainly to self-consumption, which increased by 16.4 % in the last year and already exceed 12,062 hectares.
After the analysis of the crops, AVA-ASAJA calls for an urgent road map, agreed between all the political parties and the sector with the aim of guaranteeing economic stability for agricultural activity that allows reactivating the generational change and recovering vacant fields.
“The political class can no longer wait to react urgently and effectively. We are leaders in land left uncultivated, in the aging of the agricultural population and in the lack of incorporation of young people," Cristóbal Aguado, president of the agrarian entity, said yesterday.
AVA-ASAJA collects that in Spain as a whole, the number of lands that were left uncultivated increased by 2% compared to the previous year, which is why they conclude that one in three hectares that were abandoned in 2022 belong to the Valencian Community. That is why they point to its position as "red lantern, at a national level and quite possibly in Europe in uncultivated agricultural area." Other autonomous communities with greater agricultural extension recovered arable land: Castilla-La Mancha 1.53% (159,446 vacant hectares), Castilla y León 1.33% (123,442 hectares) or Andalusia, 1.05% (127,497 hectares). .
