The horticultural campaign for 2024/2025 in the province of Almería is expected to reach exports of 3.716 billion euros, a 14% increase from the previous season in terms of revenue and 2.5 million tons, representing a 5% increase compared to the 2023/2024 campaign. These figures have been provided by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, and Rural Development.
«These are very positive values, indicating the good performance of the campaign,» stated the Ministry. It was also noted that this can be seen in the value of commercialization, which reached 4.501 billion euros, an increase of 812 million euros compared to the previous season, representing a 22% increase.
In terms of the value of the products sold, peppers stood out with a value of 1.432 billion euros, an increase of over 25%; followed by tomatoes with a value of 908 million euros, an increase of over 18%; cucumbers in third place with a value of 677 million euros, a 32.5% increase; watermelon with a value of 478 million euros, almost a 34% increase; and zucchini with a value of 373 million euros, a 3.5% increase compared to the previous campaign.
Regarding production, a total of 4.025 million tons were harvested, a 2.3% increase from the previous season. The highest production crops were peppers with 913,000 tons, tomatoes with 751,000 tons, watermelon with 629,000 tons, cucumbers with 621,000 tons, and zucchini with 464,000 tons.
The cultivated area for this campaign was 62,743 hectares, which is 1,132 hectares more than the previous season, representing an increase of almost 2% in surface area. It’s worth noting that this area includes greenhouses that have a double cycle, with the greenhouse area in Almería remaining stable at around 33,000 hectares. The crops with the largest surface area were peppers with 12,719 hectares, watermelon with 11,081 hectares, tomatoes with 8,170 hectares, zucchini with 7,610 hectares, and cucumbers with 6,681 hectares.
The average price of different horticultural products for this campaign was 0.89 per kilogram, which is an increase of 0.09 kg, representing a price increase of nearly 12%, as reported by the Ministry.
The products that performed the best in terms of prices were eggplants at 0.81 euros per kg (an increase of 44.64%), peppers at 1.23 euros per kg (an increase of 17.14%), and tomatoes at 0.97 euros per kg (an increase of 9.55%).
In conclusion, the data on exports, commercialization, production, surface area, and prices demonstrate the potential of the fruit and vegetable sector in the province of Almería. This was highlighted by the Secretary General of Agriculture, Livestock, and Food of the ministry, Manuel Gómez, who emphasized that this potential allows them to continue positioning themselves in the national and international markets. This is further supported by the various measures of the First Strategic Plan for Greenhouse Fruits and Vegetables in Andalusia, which is nearing 65% completion.
FUENTE