While the acreage of most crops has decreased by up to 20% due to drought, producers ecological farming They breathe easy thanks to “better water management” and although they suffer from lack of rain, they do so less.
Lack of water availability is a problem that “affects everyone equally,” but when faced with this situation, Organic farmers have an advantage Because “all crops have reduction systems and systems that reduce water consumption.”
According to Álvaro Barrera, president of the Spanish Professional Association of Organic Production (Ecovalia), the main feature of this type of agriculture is that the soil can retain this liquid thanks to its own structure.
Barrera illustrates the difference between both types with the image of a person who needs a glass of water after eating something very spicy but does not have it, and, on another level, with the image of a person who has a glass of water in the same situation. Water to suppress this feeling.
Nitrogen compounds that harm the soil
The first of these will be traditional agriculture, as Barrera explained in his statements to Efeagro: It causes the soil to burn during drought periods due to the nitrogenous compounds and chemicals provided by phytosanitary sources. and the facility has no water source.
In its place, In the case of organic farming, crops can “use” this “glass of water” to suppress heat. because they lack the previous substances that cause blockage in water absorption.
Water deficiency, added to other climatic adversities such as hail, caused the prices of products such as melons, watermelons, onions and tomatoes to increase and their cultivation to decrease.
This affects the final price for the consumer, where the cost of food in the shopping cart, especially fruit and vegetables, increases.
Organic agriculture is not immune to these economic fluctuations.Due to the increase in input prices and affecting all products; However, according to the president of Ecovalia, factors such as more “farm-to-table” distribution alleviate this problem.
But the consumer did not stop purchasing such products: according to Ecovalia data, the total average expenditure per person was at the level of 60 euros per person per year; 53.20 of this corresponds to the amount spent by Spaniards at home.
Organic agriculture is already competing with conventional agriculture
Roberto Ruiz, organic production research technician at the Basque Agricultural Research Institute (Neiker), emphasizes: The capacity of organic agriculture to “compete” with conventional agriculture.
emphasizes this traditional “does not achieve expected performance” inputs are utilized and therefore “production is more expensive or in many cases equivalent to organic production.”
In situations similar to the situation the country is in now, where water reserves are at 48.2% and have decreased for the sixth consecutive week, the focus is on the capacity of reservoirs to provide water for both domestic consumption and agriculture.
Ecovalia’s manager warns about this: The presence of “phosphorus bodies that cause the limits of these active substances to exceed the limits permitted for human consumption.” and “The little water that is available is the water that is not available.”
Phytosanitary products found in traditional agriculture reach reservoirs carried away by rains, causing the concentration of these substances to increase as the amount of stored water decreases.
Expenditures on organic agriculture continue to increase
Spaniards spent an average of 60 euros on organic products in 2022 Both outside and inside the house, this figure represents an increase of 3.1% and almost two euros compared to the previous year, when 58.15 euros were spent.
According to the latest data from Ecovalia, Organic consumption increased by 45 percent in the last three years After the post-pandemic stability.
Moreover, 64% of the organic basket in Spain in 2022 consisted of organic products of plant origin, mostly fruit (14%), vegetables (10%), and 36% consisted of products of animal origin, mostly meat (27%) . %).
There are 2.64 million hectares of certified ecological surfaces in Spain, and there has been a 26.6 percent growth in these surfaces in the last five years.
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