Cifea trains professionals in this type of crop due to the great demand for specialist technicians by companies
Organic farming grew by 20% in the last year in the municipality due to strong consumer demand, as confirmed to LA VERDAD by the technical director of the Council of Organic Agriculture of the Region of Murcia, Pedro José Saura. He said it during the celebration of the second Conference on Agroecology and Regulated Training organized by the Guadanatura cooperative for consumers and users of organic products.
In Lorca, 505 farmers are dedicated to growing organic products in a total of 22,000 hectares, and the most prominent are the almond tree, in an area of 9,800 hectares, and cereals, in 4,600 hectares. Saura explained that Lorca is the second municipality in the Region in the production of organic almonds, behind Mula, which exceeds it by only 200 hectares, and the second in vegetable cultivation with 575 hectares compared to 765 in Murcia. The most produced are broccoli and baby and iceberg lettuce, as well as fruits such as watermelon.
The Alimer cooperative is one of those with the largest area cultivated with organic products, a total of 700 hectares, of which 600 are dedicated to planting vegetables. Technician Lola Hernández assured that 80% of the almonds produced in Lorca are organic and that the largest increase at the regional level in the last year has been in citrus.
Almond, cereal and vegetables such as broccoli and lettuce focus most of the production in the municipality
During the conference, which ends today at the Integrated Center for Agricultural Training and Experiences (Cifea), its director, Antonio José Hernández, said that agroecology constitutes “a very important professional opportunity” because “in the center we are one hundred percent of occupation but we are not able to satisfy the demand for professionals in the sector” who have an “almost immediate” incorporation into the labor market. The mayor, Diego José Mateos, attended the opening of the conference together with the mayor of Totana, Pedro José Sánchez, and said that “this model of organic production, which coexists with the traditional one, is the present and the future of the sector” due to to the growing demand.
Yesterday’s session focused on organic farming, still very incipient in the region, since, according to Saura, there are only six farms counted that are dedicated to the goat, pig, sheep and poultry sectors. Experts such as José Miguel González, head of the Organic Production Area of the Ministry of Agriculture, participated in a round table; Eva Armero, professor at the Polytechnic University of Cartagena and director of the Cría Gallina Murciana program, as well as Juan Luis Amor, manager of a goat farm, and Carlos Zafra, member of the Association of Beekeepers of the Region, among others.
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