As soon as the heat squeezes in summer, there is no more emblematic image in the Valencian Community than terraces full of high and cold horchata vessels: few drinks better represent the Mediterranean identity. But after that refreshing tradition a crop as fragile as essential is hidden: the chufa.
A stain expanding. For years, this small tuber has been the economic engine of much of the Valencian garden. Its cultivation, located mainly in L’Horta Nord, not only gives flavor to summer, but also work, identity and landscape. However, As denounced by the Valencian Association of Farmers (Ava-Asaja)the cultivation of the chufa is going through an unprecedented crisis: despite the high demand and the stability of prices at origin, profitability collapses.
In data. The situation is clear: in just a decade, production costs have risen 40 %, while productivity has fallen by 25 %, As explained in the press releaseAs a consequence, this year a thousand hanegades have been cultivated less than the previous one, which represents a 15 % reduction in the surface dedicated to the chufa.
The Chufa de Valencia is cultivated in some 16 municipalities of L’Horta Nord, where They produce approximately 5.3 million kilos of chufa Dry a year, of which 90 % have a denomination of origin. In total, the crop occupies about 600 hectares with an estimated production of 7,300 tons. Although the figures may seem modest nationwide, the chufa is a characteristic culture of the area and key to hundreds of Valencian families.
A plague with fifteen years of history. One of the main factors that Chufa production is putting in check is the disease known as “black spot.” This condition, which is manifested in the skin of the tuber, reduces its commercial value and multiplies the destroys (product that must be discarded in the dryers for not complying with the standards).
First detected for fifteen years – coinciding with the first plantations of African chufa seeds on Valencian soil, According to Ava-Asaja-, the disease is still well characterized. In statements collected by Europa PressThe Agrarian Organization regrets that the Ministry of Agriculture has not provided the sector with “sufficient information about the type of disease, the causes of its introduction or the effective methods to combat it”. Therefore, they ask the Valencian Institute for Agricultural Research (IVIA) to intensify their studies to improve the control of this plague, whose incidence is increasing.
A weed that sweeps everything. To the threat of black spot is added a more recent but equally worrying problem: the appearance of an invasive weed in the Chufa fields. As Ava-Assaja has denounced-In information also collected by Levante-EMV-, This species could have been introduced through chufas from third countries prosecuted in laundries of the Valencian garden.
The difficulty of this problem is that the weed has the same vegetative cycle as the chufa, which prevents using herbicides without damaging the crop. In addition, its manual extraction is ineffective, since unmovered fragments can re -root the following year. “Being a more vigorous plant than cultivation, you can infest whole fields,” The Agrarian Organization to the Valencian media has warned. The result is devastating: lower performance, more manual work without results and, in many cases, fields that must cease to be temporarily cultivated by the impossibility of eradicating the plague.
The future of crop, at stake. Given this scenario, Ava-Asaja has asked administrations an urgent and sustained action plan in time. The proposal includes short -term measures to contain immediate damage, as well as a long -term strategy to guarantee the viability of the crop: new phytosanitary solutions, biological research, control of imported material and aids to compensate for cost overruns.
Antonio José Gimeno, responsible for the Sector of Chufa in Av-Asaja, The Levante has been clear in the middle: “If the citizens want to have a living garden, crops such as the chufa must have a dignified and lasting profitability. And that necessarily goes through solving problems as pressing as the black spot and this invasive herb that are reducing productivity to historical minimums.”
But is this crisis reversible? Yes, but time runs. The crop still has a future thanks to its economic value and the growing national and international demand. Horchata, healthy eating, natural cosmetics … All these sectors trust the Valencian Chufa. But without production, there will be no raw material. As Gimeno said: “Little will it serve that demand and price are maintained if we do not manage to get sufficient production in the fields.”
A warning beyond the chufa. The chufa crisis is not an isolated case. It is the sign of what can happen when the primary sector does not have the investment, research and policies necessary to protect it. What happens today with this tuber can be repeated tomorrow with other crops if it does not act on time. Keeping alive the garden is not just a matter of profitability: it is preserving a landscape, a way of life and a cultural heritage that has defined the Valencian Community for centuries.
Image | Dorieo
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