These are not good times for garlic. Although Spain is in the top 10 among producing countries and leads Europe with production of more than 273,000 tonnes in 2018, professionals dedicated to the cultivation of this crop warn of a grim outlook. It’s difficult and complicated. So much so that they already clearly understand that we can talk about a crisis, with hectares of crop loss in the last few years and farms indicated by meteorology (especially water scarcity) and increasing costs, and this situation affects the profitability of the company. sector.

And since a number always speaks more than a thousand words, here are two things to think about: Cultivated area in Spain has decreased by a third in just three years, while production increased from 315,000 tonnes in 2021 to 210,000 last year.

“Complicated moments”. That’s what he knows Julio BaceteThe chairman of the National Garlic Table admits in an interview with Xataka that the group is not going through its best phase. Cultivated area is decreasing, tons of crops harvested each year are decreasing, land rents and other inputs to the industry such as electricity or diesel are increasing, and farms face the challenge of generational change. It doesn’t always come.

Julio Bacete explains that this cocktail of factors is not complex enough in itself, as farmers also have to deal with adverse weather conditions that make it difficult for them to access water, among other problems.

Garlic is losing ground… The most revealing data. And graphics. Bacete explains that just four years ago garlic cultivation in Spain covered approximately 30,000 hectares. We are currently under 20,000. The industry has lost a third of its size in less than five years; This decline is even more severe in some parts of the country. A few days ago, Efe repeated a report from the National Garlic Table showing that Andalusia lost more than half of its cultivation area in four years: from 5,356 hectares to 2,410 hectares in 2020/2021.

The study at the state level confirmed the loss of 8,900 hectares of crops devoted to garlic production. The number of hours the industry was previously active for this campaign increased from 29,826 hours at the beginning of the decade to 20,926. The reference point in the sector, no longer at the Spanish level but at the European level, is Castilla-La Mancha. In February, the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Rural Development estimated that 21,000 hours were concentrated in the region; this “represents 71% of the national total,” says the autonomous agency, which estimates that two years ago production exceeded 180,000 tonnes. Such a volume represented close to 64% of the national total.

…and production. The sector does not focus only on hectares. The same trend is seen in the shades of the harvested crop. Bacete estimates it grew from 315,000 tonnes in 2021 to 210,000 tonnes last year. And the forecasts for this implementation start with some worrying indicators: According to Efe, the forecasts assume that 22.8% less area will be cultivated in Andalusia in the current campaign, while in Andalusia the decline will be even higher at 23.5%. Nationwide, the harvest will fall by just over 20 percent. Despite these data, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors Miguel del Pino showed his confidence that a good balance could be achieved.

Del Pino commented, “We have been losing acreage for two years in a row in Spain, and harvests have also been poor due to harsh weather conditions”, emphasizing the latter: “There has been a further reduction in acreage, resulting in an exponential increase” in the last two harvests. in production costs”.

Question about numbers. In any case, there are more optimistic forecasts for gross garlic production in the coming years, such as those provided by Report Linker, which foresees a very slight increase in Spain. At least it’s worth it. “Global garlic production is expected to increase by almost 2% each year until 2026, reaching 36 million metric tons,” he predicts.

Although there are countries such as China, India, Bangladesh, South Korea and Egypt that far surpass Spain in terms of planting volume, Spain has a very significant weight in Europe. The EU itself estimates that 273,000 tonnes of global production of around 400,000 remains here, at least in 2018.

Collecting challenges. The million dollar question at this point is… Why? Why is garlic cultivation losing hectares and production? According to Julio Bacete, this phenomenon goes beyond a single explanation, responding to a cocktail of factors, some specific to the sector, some transcending it, affecting society as a whole and extending beyond Spain or Europe. Among the latter is the lack of generational replacement, the same problem that wasabi crops in Japan struggle with, for example. Another important point pointed out by Bacete is the increase in costs affecting the farmer’s economy.

The manager reminds that the majority of agricultural land is rented, so farmers already start with a significant expense. Electricity, water and fertilizer were also added to this… Although Bacete warns that this is an approximate and temporary calculation, he does not find it unreasonable for the total input bill to increase by 25% to 30% in just five years. The Andalusian Government Observatory of Prices and Markets also shows a noticeable increase in the value of garlic since last summer, but Bacete insists that it is not easy to increase prices in the market and warns about the profitability of the crop.

Add and continue. There are more factors. Two years ago the industry warned at European level about the impact on its crops that restrictions on the use of certain phytosanitary products, such as herbicides or fungicides, would have. Even then, Bacete told El Diario, “If they continue to be used and imported from outside the EU, why do they have to be banned here?” “What they will achieve with this is to make agricultural products more expensive and make us dependent on third parties,” he said.

Their concerns are better understood if we consider that garlic is a crop that is particularly sensitive to the influence of weeds and that they can significantly alter or reduce the yield of fields.

Fees and water. Another of the “problems” that Julio Bacete points out, he assures, are the difficulties that farmers face when looking for labor. There are also challenges posed by meteorology, which doesn’t always work in their favor; especially when it conditions their access to a resource that is vital to them, such as water. Less than a year ago, at the beginning of the campaign in Córdoba, producers were already expecting a 15% to 20% decrease in harvest due to drought, so they were expecting a significant decrease in wages. COAG Jaén also insisted last year on the importance of using water at the right time. “Garlic or onions can’t wait to be watered in May,” he warned.

Bacete insists on the impact of weather conditions on production and the impact that high temperatures or restrictions on access to water can have. He adds that it is often not the quality of the product that is affected, but the size that directly affects the quantity sold. “You lose weight, and it doesn’t show in the quality, because garlic is hard and durable,” laments the head of the National Garlic Table, concluding by defending agriculture and its social importance. That and a warning to sailors: “We are losing hope.”

Pictures | Bruno Neurath-Wilson (Unsplash) and Akinori Uemura (Unsplash)

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