Huelva’s berry sector bets on hydroponics to improve its sustainability

Huelva’s berry sector, especially the strawberry sector, plans to improve its sustainability by converting its traditional production into hydroponics, which would save water, fertilizers, and increase its production span during the year, which would increase its employment capacity.

However, according to Freshuelva, an association integrated into Fepex, carrying out this conversion involves a significant investment in infrastructure, so it is necessary to have incentives from the administrations, as is the case in other sectors and in other countries.

The sector is also working to solve the lack of authorized products for the disinfection of soils. Last week, Valentin Almansa, the general director of Agricultural Production Health of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food, and Manuel Gomez, the general director of Agricultural Production of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, and Sustainable Development of the Junta de Andalucía visited the area to learn more about the situation in situ. Alberto Garrocho and Rafael Dominguez, the president and manager of Freshuelva, told the representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Board of Andalusia that the authorization of these products was essential to maintaining the positive evolution of berry farms.

Read the complete article (in Spanish) at fepex.es.