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Spain occupies An important place In the world macker of garlic, but that does not mean that the farmers of Castilla-La Mancha or Andalusia who are dedicated to growing it are easy. The garlic It crosses turbulence. The sector warns of the difficulties that are to combat pests, the effects of drought, the “excessive bureaucracy” or the lack of generational relief, among other stalking challenges. A complicated panorama that is seen with special attention from the province of Cuenca, where the Purple Garlic from Las Pedroñeras. After all, garlic is much more than a vegetable that fluctuates in the market: The sector claims which is a crop that helps to “pour” the emptied Spain. “In crisis”. He newly named President of the National Garlic Bureau, José Carlos Patiño, is clear: they do not run good times for his business. In An interview With eldiario.es the agriculture Manchego, the new visible face of the Aheros, warned that the sector “is suffering a” aggravated crisis, among other factors, by the water scarcitythe reduction of hectares of crop, the lack of generational relief and a bureaucracy that they consider “excessive.” It is nothing new. His predecessor, Julio Bacete I already used The same word to describe the situation that farmers dedicated to garlic culture face: “crisis.” A year ago, during A talk with Xatakahe admitted that the sector was going through “complicated moments”, a trend that is visible mainly in the loss of hectares dedicated to plantations. Why’s that? For a sum of factors. Although not all weigh the same. When explaining the situation, farmers usually point out above all loss of resources To fight pests. They ensure that their arsenal has been trimmed by regulations, which subtracts tools to protect crops … and their investments. “It’s not about talking badly about the 2030 Agenda or the Green Pact, but the reduction we carry in phytosanitary is affecting us a lot. There are diseases, pests, fungi that we cannot control,” warns Patiño. “We have a very large decrease. There is a lack of performance, simply in the seed itself. In nascence there are plots that have a decrease of 30% damage. In the end, that is kilos of garlic,” Comment the representative of the sector. He is not the only one who thinks like that. The president of the National Association of Garlic Producers and Marketers (ANPCA), Fernando Rubio, He shared recently A similar message with The confidential: “Pests begin to be resistant because we have very little variety of active matter that we can use.” Pest question … And something else. Although the shortage of resources to treat pests and fungi is usually one of the most cited handicaps by farmers is not the only one that explains the “crisis” that faces garlic. The guild indicates other serious ones, both structural and short -term: water shortage, specialized professionals and generational relief, “Excess bureaucracy”loss of hectares, the cost of land lease, low visibility in the domestic market or even the effect of imports and The tariffs by Donald Trump. The sector has been dealing with China’s competition for some time, Great world exporter of garlic and that stands out especially for its prices. With that backdrop, In the guild worries now what The tariff war and the imposition of levies to Chinese trade in the US ends up leading Asian farmers to redirect their merchandise towards other destinations, complicating exports to Spain. It is not the only conjunctural challenge with which the sector has dealt with, which in recent years has had to see them with The increase of The energy either Fertilizers. Hectares. The transformation of the sector can also be measured in figures. For example, that of the cultivated area. The data does not always coincide, but show a clear loss of soil: The report presented a year ago by the National Garlic Table to the Mixed Fruit and Vegetable Committee notes that it has passed from 29,826 hectares in 2021 to a provision of 21,000. Other sources They point out that it has dropped from 24,900 h in 2023 to something less than 23,000 In the 2024 season. The descent would be even more accent in Some regions. “Much investment”. “Putting one hectare of garlic carries a lot warns Patiño at eldiario.es. Less land does not always have less crops. Some data They point to the high weight of garlic Springvariety that stands out for its rhythm of production and performance, and a loss of land of purple garlic. As for prices, the manager wait Good values, above last year. The ministry indicates that the 100 kg of dry garlic are in 125 euros. Garlic (and something else). Not everyone lives the same turbulence that the vegetable is going through. After all, as He noticed recently Rubio, garlic plays a key role as a job generator in part of emptied Spain. “The cultivation is going to be lost to many villages of rural Spain, the reason for about 60 wages per hectare,” duck The President of ANPCA. In that context, there is a variety of culture to which Pay attention The sector: purple garlic. In a basin place … “In purple garlic it is a very serious problem. It is in danger and production can be left,” Patiño points out to The confidential. The reason is simple: to the rest of the challenges that the Ajero collective is going through, the purple variety adds the lack of visibility in the stores. Although the purple garlic of Las Pedroñeras It has one Protected Geographic Indicationthe sector regrets its lack of dissemination in a market in which the client values ​​the cost. Looking at the Canary Islands banana. “It does not happen with the banana, which differs much from the banana. Here the qualities are not compared to, but there is no culture to seek the garlic of the Pedroñeras in the super” s, Rubio reflects. To this lack of recognition is added the performance of the variety, less than that … Read more