Cultifort moves to Lorca, Murcia to interview Jorge Arranz, Technical Director of Sack.
They have 36 years of experience growing crops such as broccoli, cabbage, lettuce, melon, watermelon, bimi, etc.
What do you think are the challenges the sector currently faces?
We have several problems:
- Problem due to limited availability of land and water.
- Serious labor shortage problem.
- The problem facing the coming years is how to mechanize the harvests.
- The problem of high costs. Costs have risen sharply in recent years, and we must continue to improve prices for our customers, while we ourselves continue to produce as much as we can and remain as competitive as possible.
Broccoli is increasingly considered the food of the 21st century. How do you think it will evolve in the coming years?
Broccoli consumption will continue to grow in Europe, but in Spain the challenge remains to ensure it continues to grow, to ensure people consume more broccoli. In Spain, there are different tastes, more vegetables, and a different way of eating. People eat broccoli, but it has nothing to do with the United Kingdom, the Nordic countries, or Germany.
How do you approach innovation in the field: new products, new cultivation techniques, new tools?
A little bit of everything. In recent years, we've shifted to new crops, as I said, from bimi to broccoli. We're now growing almost 600 hectares of bimi, and that requires a lot of labor. Hence what I was telling you before about the problem we have: the huge difficulty in terms of personnel. Then, we continue to look for new products, because today's market trend is to continue eating broccoli, but they want new things, they want different things, with colors. And all the supermarkets, all our customers, want to stand out from each other, from their competitors. And of course, with these small products, sometimes some are successful and others aren't. So that's where the difficulty lies in finding something that consumers will like.
In crop management, what role would you give to nutritional issues?
Nutrition is very important. A well-managed, balanced crop gives you a quality that's noticeable later. It's noticeable because what's well-grown lasts longer on the supermarket shelf. And what's not well-fertilized can cause problems later.
Have you seen a shift in the way society eats? And what has this meant for your production in recent years?
We have noticed a shift in the trend toward smaller items. Consumers increasingly want to buy smaller quantities so they don't accumulate in the fridge or go bad. They want new presentations and smaller formats.
How is rising temperatures affecting your crops?
What's clear is that we don't have to focus on the temperature to plan for next year, because these have been very strange years, with no winters and very long summers.
Can improved production be achieved simply by choosing varieties, opting to plant fewer varieties adapted to winter cycles, or planting later?
What we need to look for are the most hardy varieties possible. Varieties that adapt to these temperature changes we're experiencing.
We are not looking for a winter or autumn plant.
We are looking for plants that are able to withstand all these temperature differences.
Do you choose all the varieties you plant based on seeds, to adapt them to what you're telling me about the climatological issue?
New varieties are coming in every year, and that's exactly what I was telling you about. Of all the seed companies we see, we're always looking for the most hardy plants. Those that can withstand the high temperatures we've been experiencing in recent years, but also those that can recover when a cold week comes later.
What solutions do you think can be proposed to the lack of water?
Murcia must strive for independence when it comes to water, because what's clear is that these political swings, in the end, have shown us over the years that when there's a change in regional government and so on, everyone plays politics with water. So, I believe that for Murcia to function, what it needs is to be autonomous, when it comes to water.
Are there other limiting factors for obtaining a good quality product, apart from water and temperature?
In recent years, we've also been having problems with phytosanitary products. We've had significant restrictions on herbicides; we're very tight. There are also certain pests that we're having a hard time controlling.
Thank you very much and see you next time.
Pleasure.
Video interview:
Company: SACK
Summary
Cultifort interviews Jorge Arranz, Technical Director of Sacoje in Lorca, Murcia. He has 36 years of experience.
Sacoje grows crops such as broccoli, cabbage, lettuce, melon, watermelon, and bimi. The interview addresses the main challenges facing the agricultural sector, including land and water scarcity, labor shortages, mechanized harvesting, and rising costs. Innovation in farming, the importance of crop nutrition, changing consumer trends, and solutions to address climate change and water scarcity are also discussed.