Drought, heat and extreme storms are phenomena that affect the entire agricultural sector, but which have a particular impact on medium and small producers of traditional crops, such as the bagged grapes of Vinalopó, in which the high costs have been added this year a greater incidence of pests and diseases that is affecting production and has begun to give rise to an abandonment that until now had not been foreseen in this area of the Alicante countryside.
This is explained by Beatriz Rocamora, director of the protected designation of origin (PDO) Raim de Taula Embossat. "The production destined for New Year's is still green, we don't know what will happen, now we need it not to rain and for it to start getting cold when it has to get cold... and for the market to work".
The grapes of the Aledo variety, bagged as is traditional, are still in the field, prolonging maturation thanks to this peculiar protection system, but since August 28 the earliest variety is already on the market. Rocamora explains that the prolonged heat, for many months, causes the pests to change their cycles because the blooms are altered, and it is more difficult for farmers to fight them, who have also seen a reduction in the use of phytosanitary products.
In this context, the decline in profitability experienced last year - after a 2021 "that went very well" - has discouraged some producers, especially those who reach retirement age and do not find relief crop charge
"Last year ended very badly", recalls the director of the DOP, "there was very little demand in the market due to the issue of inflation, since at the final point of sale the product was expensive, people did not buy it and since it is a perishable product, the prices at the source go down, because the product has been removed from above”. Because of this, the profitability of many farms "dropped and has even caused some abandonment".
The denomination of origin has around 280 members registered, including cooperatives, farmers, family businesses... but the abandonment is not giving way to other activities, Rocamora clarifies: "It's not that they are starting vines to plant something else, or to install solar panels, we haven't reached that yet; it's just that they won't keep it this year." Of the nearly 40 million kilos produced each year, roughly half belong to the Aledo variety, the one we hastily consume while the bells are ringing. If the climate behaves in a stable manner, it is not expected that this amount will decrease beyond 10% this year, there is no need to fear that it will be missing. But of course, the competition is great, "the excess supply is brutal", points out Rocamora, "because there is a great variety, more every year: the ones without seeds, the colored ones... after all. .. many options. And we have a very different approach, a traditional production, with indigenous varieties and a completely artisanal cultivation".
The PDO production is grown in the Alicante municipal areas of Asp, Novelda, Fondó de les Neus, Fondó dels Frares, Montfort, Agost and la Romana. In addition, the seven grape varieties protected by the designation of origin, all with seeds, cover the period from the end of August, with the earliest varieties (Victòria and Ideal), passing through the equator of the campaign with varieties such as Red Globe, Doña María or Dominga, until the middle of January, with the latest variety, Aledo, emblematic of Christmas. In the campaign as a whole, the production and marketing of Vinalopó grapes can generate between 10,000 and 13,000 direct jobs, which is a decisive impact on the economy of the territory where it is produced.
