He Congress Palace of Córdoba hosts until next Thursday the 17th European Congress of Organic Productionorganized by Ecovalia and which is attended by more than 350 congressmen from 27 countries. The president of Ecovalia, the Spanish professional association of organic production, Alvaro Barrerahas detailed that once national production quotas have been reached that exceed the European average, The great challenge of the sector is consumption at high levels of organic products. To promote in this sense, Barrera indicated, they are working with 120 schools throughout Spain to publicize that “there are foods without synthetic chemicals” and that, furthermore, “Andalusia is a leader” when it comes to producing them.
The choice of Córdoba to host the event is not trivial Well, if Spain is a leader in organic production in Europe and Andalusia is a leader within Spain, Córdoba is a reference within the autonomous community itself, being the Andalusian province with the most hectares of organic of the entire region. Moving towards a normalized consumption of organic foods is not easy, especially taking into account the prices. In this sense, Barrera has explained that The organic product, in an inflation scenario, has become 1.5% less expensive than the conventional onesomething that has happened thanks to an increase in production that allows “a product with guarantees and at a lower price.”
For his part, the Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the Board, Vicente Pérez, has indicated that “we are on the path” and to this end he has recalled that the 21-27 framework of the CAP intends to allocate 370 million euros to convert and maintain “transformative marketing products.” Besides, has valued “the numbers” in terms of marketing and employment generated in the ecological field and has influenced Andalusia’s leadership within the sector.
Meanwhile, the first vice president and delegate of Agriculture of the Deputation, Andres Loritehas highlighted the commitment of the provincial institution, for decades, to organic agriculture which offers, he recalled, agri-food quality and products of the highest quality. Lorite understands that “public administrations have to take organic farming as a reference to combine the primary sector with environmental protection” and has requested do not create confrontation or separate this green policy from agricultural and livestock activity.
The congress
During the days of the congress, the main topics that define the present and future of organic production in Europe will be discussed in round tables with the main European experts in the sector. This will address the challenge of greenwashing (guide the marketing image of a company towards an ecological positioning while its actions go against the environment), the role of distribution, innovation in the sector, promotional actions, foreign markets, the future of the European green deal and the 25% objectivethe influence of the new CAP in the sector, regulation and certification, promotion of consumption, the role in the climate of production or organic foods in catering.
Water or rather the absence of it will also play, as could not be expected, an important role in the days. As Álvaro Barrera indicated in an interview with Efe on the occasion of the congress, “of course The drought affects us, but we have more resistant varietiesnative breeds that are more accustomed to the Mediterranean climate”, although it is essential to know that “there are no infinite resources” and in that sense organic production “has water management and those contribution limitations in its DNA.”
Regarding the increase in energy prices, he also pointed out that it has affected the sector, although it has done so “to a lesser extent” because The dependence on “fertilizers and phytosanitary products” is “lower in organic production” compared to the conventional one.
Organic crops
Spain has 2.6 million hectares dedicated to organic production, half concentrated in Andalusia and followed far away by Castilla-La Mancha and Catalonia, while in 2021 France reached 2.7 million and Italy 2.1 million, so “European leadership” is increasingly closer.
The main crops in Spain are nuts, olive groves, cereals and vineyardswhile there are more than 9,200 organic farms, of which 50% are cattle, 27% sheep and 8% goats.