Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura are the only islands that gain arable land and the avocado shoots up 130.8%
SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Dec. 29 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Association of Farmers and Ranchers of the Canary Islands (Asaga Canarias Asaja) has shown this Thursday its “concern and alert” for the decline experienced in the crops of the archipelago with the disappearance of about 2,200 hectares between 2010 and 2021, according to statistics published by the Regional Executive through ISTAC.
This area is equivalent to a loss of 5.3% of arable land and means that the total amount of agriculture on the islands falls for the first time below 40,000 hectares.
By islands, El Hierro is the one with the worst data, going from 3,211 hectares between herbaceous and woody crops in 2010 to remaining with 1,835 hectares in 2021, which means a difference of 1,376 hectares less and, in percentage terms, a decrease of 42 .8%
They are followed in this negative trend by Lanzarote (-670 hectares), Tenerife (-638), La Palma (-355) and La Gomera (-220).
At the other extreme are the islands of Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura, which significantly increased their agricultural area by 772 hectares, the first, and 304 hectares, the second, becoming the easternmost island the one with the highest growth with 67 ,2%.
In this way, Gran Canaria now has close to 10,000 hectares of crops, while Fuerteventura is close to 760 hectares, Asaga details in a note.
Regarding crops, they can be divided into three groups: those that grow, those that fall and those that remain stable.
In the first appear avocado and lettuce. Both stand out for their impressive growth of 130.8 and 122.5%, respectively, which far exceeds the cultivated area they covered in 2010. Thus, avocado now occupies 2,255 hectares and lettuce covers 1,182 hectares.
Other crops with moderate increases are potatoes, papaya, mango, zucchini and tropical pineapple.
In the group of those that fall are tomato, with a decline of 64.2%, and sweet potato (-42.8%), affected by multiple economic, health, and import competition factors.
THE WINERY LOSES MORE THAN 2,000 HECTARES
To a lesser extent, it is also worth noting the decrease in flowers and ornamental plants, fodder, legumes, cucumbers and vines. The latter, with 6,191 hectares, is far from the more than 8,651 hectares it had in 2010, while bananas and citrus remain in the stable section.
If the 15 main crops that existed in the Canary Islands in 2010 by area size are taken as a reference: banana, vineyard, fodder, potatoes, tomato, cereals, citrus fruits, avocado, flowers and plants, lettuce, sweet potato, onion, mango, legumes and zucchini and its evolution is compared until 2021, some changes are observed.
In 2010, continues Asaga, these agricultural products represented 85.2% of the total area of the region with a sum of 35,379 hectares while, in 2021, they figured as 80.3% occupying just over 31,500 hectares.
In addition, potatoes, avocados, lettuce, mangoes, and zucchini rise several positions to the detriment of others, and papayas are added to this list, while sweet potatoes are left out.
