Fruit Logística, an every year must for the Ministry every year,  but year 2011 is special...

Fruit Logistica is indeed the most important fruits and vegetables exhibition in  Europea, and it has always been un unavoidable date for us. But this year our presence is even more important. The "E.Coli Issue" has meant a before and an after for this industry.

 What message do you want to launch?

To start with, we want to reinforce the big picture that we have always tried to show in the European markets that was almost destroyed by this unfortunate fact... We are going to talk about our horticultural products, guaranteed by its excellent system of quality control and traceability, that in case of an emergency like this one of the E.Coli Issue, allows us to react quickly and reliably when identifying its products and origins. We are also going to value all the efforts that we have been making to promote a more rational use of  water and more sustainable agriculture. We have invested in the modernization of irrigation of infrastructure, in productive structures such as greenhouses, which means a bigger saving, and in the research and studies we have carried out to contribute on making the agriculture more competitive and generating more value for our fruit and vegetable production. In this sense, we must emphasize the progress made in food processing .And also in this sense, we must emphasize the steps forwards

in the field of food elaboration (IV and V range). In the first case clean and processed products, such as salads and in the second case precooked meals.

Do you think is that Andalusian products are still in doubt?

I think there are many people interested in setting our products in doubt. Andalusia is the main European fruit and vegetables distributor which means that it's a great competitor for many companies that have the same targets as we do. It's not  the first time that Andalusia is the victim of such disloyal practices that try to damage our image. We must fight against that and we can't lower our guard.

What does the industry think about that?

This industry is the main affected and we have always worked together in order to fight this kind of practices to make the customer see that the Andalusian product is the basis of the good health that offers us the Mediterranean diet. So this year, we all have made an special effort to make our presence important, with a total of 35 Andalusian companies that will be taking part of this edition protected by the Andalusian Comittee. This fact proves the big commitment that the Andalusian administration is willing to make to consolidate and expand the market share.

What was the reaction of Europe after the E.Coli Issue? What is the balance in terms of exportation?

The answer may be surprising, but it's been better than other years. As you may think, June and July were terrible months, the exportations fell and the production industry did really suffered. The losses were huge and although Brussels gave good compensations, we could only recover our image towards the customer with great effort, not money. However, all our suffering of these summer months had their rewards, and since August, the cucumber, tomato and pepper exportations to Germany did improved by 11% in October and November 2011. The restoration of our traditional good image has contributed to the good working order of the traceability system applied on the Andalusian productions. Thanks to the confirmation of the quality of our fruits and vegetables, we have achieved to maintain the trust of our costumers and also we could notice an increasement on the sales of our most famous products.

So, Andalusia has a name in Europe now...

We shouldn't forget that Andalusia is the main fruits and vegetables supplier in the EU, especially Almería and Granada (vegetables) and Huelva (strawberry). They produce for 9 months a year, so during the colder months (January and February) Andalusia is the only place to grow vegetables. We must add the great progress we have made in ecological production, that put us in a great position towards Europe. We achieved this thanks to the support from the Regional Government and the good attitude of a sector commited to its future.

What data guarantees the increase that the ecological production in Almería experimented?

For the last five years, the surface dedicated to ecological growings has been increased by 118%. Andalusia owns nowadays the leadership in ecological production, with a total of 879859 certified hectares and 2885 certified farms, which means more than the 53% of the national surface and the 57% of the Spanish organic farmings. This quantum leap is especially noticed in the industrialization level: for the last 3 years, increasing the number of ecological industries by a 75%, to a total of 759 industrial activities. Among them, the handling of fruits and vegetables is one of the industrial activities that have increased the most. The sector is also the one that leads the number of green business dedicated to the handlign and packaging of fresh products, canned food and juices.

Apart from the ecological farming, what other actions prove the commitment of this Council for sustainability?

One of our main investigation and action lines in our agriculture is the integrated production, a system that considers the application of models such as the use of auxiliary insects to fight plagues. This fact is known as "Biological Fight", a field in which Andalusia, and especially Almería, is pioneer. The future of our production is orientated towards the production system, that contributes to increase its added value and a more rational use of the means of production. They make possible the existence of more profitable farms, which means not only a benefit for the environment and the Andalusian production, but an extra guarantee for the consumers that, according to the current market demands, they ask for healthy and eco-friendly food. This all has led Andalusia and especially Almería to a "green Revolution" whose main slogan is "Green Commitment", with several campaigns about the benefits of integrated production that in the case of Almería, are focused on the biological pests control. Nowadays, the leadership of Almería in  integrated production is evident in the huge evolution that it has experienced by the surface, increased in the last eight years 5 times, from 81000 hectares to 3n2003 up to 400000 hectares (63% of the national surface).

Is that surprising evolution of the integrated production of Andalusia extending to biological control practices?

Sure it is. Thanks to the significant financial support from the Government of Almería in the last four years (25,7 millions), they have achieved the incorporation and expansion of this technique in the Andalusian growings, especially in the fields of horticultural products cultivated in greenhouses. Specifically, in the last legislature more than 22 millions have been invested to acquire those predator of pests insects, that have been consolidated as a viable and effective alternative to chemicals. This has meant the increasement of the hectares with biological control, that have arised from 250 in 2005 up to 20000 today, and most of them are located in Almería.