The nut sector will be present at the Sant Miquel Fair and the Eurofruit show with several exhibiting companies presenting machinery for the harvesting, processing, and post-processing of these products. Nuts and dried fruit have been gaining prominence in recent editions of the Lleida show thanks to the participation of equipment and nut marketing companies, as well as the organisation of conferences and presentations dedicated to these products.
This year’s edition will also be attended by firms such as Renatus Agro, a prestigious company specialising in all types of equipment (harvesting, processing, and post-processing) for almonds, hazelnuts, pistachios and other nuts. The firm from La Mancha specialises in pistachio machinery (with equipment for separating the twigs, shelling, cleaning, eliminating voids, calibrating, and drying pistachios).
Nuts, an alternative for the future
In recent years, the sharp increase in international demand has led Catalan farmers, especially in Lleida, to increase their nut production. Some of the factors that have led to a commitment to these crops is the extensive knowledge that farmers have, as well as the availability of thousands of hectares of irrigated land in the Segarra-Garrigues Canal sector, which provide great possibilities for starting up crops with higher economic yields than those of sweet fruit.
On the other hand, the traditional varieties of almond —the largueta and the marcona— are being replaced by other similar varieties which have advantages such as the fact that they are late flowering, which allows them to escape frost, or that they are self-fertile, which saves on fertilisation interventions, which can be complicated by the weather or the lack of fertilisers. In fact, nuts in general suffer less from bad weather.
It should be remembered that almond, walnut, and hazelnut cultivation is deeply rooted in Catalonia (the first two in the province of Lleida and the latter in the province of Tarragona) and that Spain is the third largest producer of almonds in the world and the fifth largest producer of hazelnuts.
Forecasts for the 2020-2021 season
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the almond crop forecast for the 2020-2021 season is 353,705 tonnes in shell, 4% more than the previous season, while the hazelnut forecast is 12,324 tonnes, 1.6% more than last season. The importance of organic crops has also been highlighted, where nuts represent 30% of the total organic surface area of permanent crops.
It should be remembered that due to the difficulties this sector is experiencing as a result of the Covid-19 health crisis (which has reduced international trade and caused a drop in consumption in catering establishments), the sector has various aid measures promoted by the central government, such as the financing of companies affected by the crisis.
The Ministry also encouraged fruit and vegetable producer organisations (POs) to maximise the use of EU funds. Although the level of integration in POs at sectoral level has been increasing in recent years to reach 50%, differences persist depending on the products. Thus, while 68% of almond production is integrated in POs, in other growing crops (pistachio and walnut), marketing through these figures does not reach 2% of production.
The Ministry also presented an analysis of the area planted, which indicated that almonds represent 21% of the total area declared for this type of crop, while pistachio accounts for 67% and walnut 36%, in an expansion favoured by growing European demand.
The Ministry also highlighted the importance of organic cultivation, where nuts represent 30% of the total organic surface area of permanent crops, with an annual growth of 9% and a current implantation of 26%. Organic production represents a great opportunity for this sector, due to less competition with other producing countries.
