Agricultural group JAJA Alicante warns that apathy and inaction from authorities in the fight against the mushroom blowing crisis around the Marjal de Pego Natural Park will hit the rice sector hard, with an expected 65% drop in this symbolic variety’s production in the current year. This trend is being watched in the province of Alicante and the Valencian Community, with concerns also raised about similar signs in the Guadalquivir Marshes.
Pep Orihuel, a rice producer from the Marina Alta, explains that the fungus spreading through bomba rice fields stems from two main factors. First, weed overgrowth in fields grows unchecked, and second, there is a heavy toll from weed management that harms the crop while failing to curb the disease’s reach. The situation is intensified by environmental conditions that favor the pathogen.
In this light, the agricultural federation is calling for the provision of practical tools for farmers to control the disease. Serreix, a persistent weed in the area, has shown resistance to the licensed products long used by local growers. The labor needed to pull weeds manually is currently not feasible on a large scale, further complicating control efforts.
Unarmed to fight fungus
Farmers report a lack of phytosanitary options to combat the illness. Only a single product is approved for certain treatments, and despite accounting for a sizable portion of production costs, the outcomes do not meet expectations. Subsidies under the Common Agricultural Policy are tightening, pressuring Alicante’s rice sector to cut production, while some neighboring regions use alternatives that Spain forbids, which demand more labor and yield higher costs.
Vicent Dominguís, an agricultural technician with Pego Natura, confirms that limiting allowed phytosanitary products and biological materials poses a major challenge for farmers. The Marjal de Pego rice crop, where the Bomb variety is especially vulnerable, suffers further from climate conditions that favor fungal growth and disease spread.
Experts agree that one possible route is to explore other varieties that tolerate salinity better, though some farmers have tried and faced mixed results.
Amid the worrying drop in production, farmers around Marjal de Pego are taking on the role of stewards of the recovering ecosystem. They keep water circulating and sustain habitats for local wildlife. Yet there is a shared prediction: if leaders fail to propose viable solutions, the Bomb rice planting could fade away within two years along with the Nature Park itself.
Spain ranks among the top rice producers in Europe, following Italy. Data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food indicate that by 2017, Spain cultivated more than 107,000 hectares. The crop spans Andalusia, Extremadura, Catalonia, the Valencian Community, Aragon, Navarra, Murcia, Castilla-La Mancha and the Balearic Islands, with the majority located in the first four regions.
Andalusia stands as Spain’s largest rice region, with about 40,000 hectares of cultivation. Around 37,481 hectares are in Las Marismas del Guadalquivir in Seville and La Janda in Cádiz, with smaller tracts in Benalup Casas Viejas, Medina Sidonia Vejer de la Frontera, Tarifa, and a few hectares in Huelva.
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