A leading Spanish fresh produce association has demanded that the country’s government do more to address falling incomes for Spanish fruit and vegetable growers, claiming that their numbers have fallen by 50 per cent over the past two years.
Asaja Murcia has accused the Spanish government of failing to take measures to tackle the “serious structural crisis” that is affecting the nation’s fresh produce sector and related sub-sectors.
In a statement, the Murcia-based association said that as a first step to address the problems growers face, the authorities should “recognise the undeniably difficult situation and put in place, or look for, solutions”.
“We need tax systems that take account of the situation in the countryside, of the reality,” said Asaja Murcia general secretary Alfonso Gálvez Caravaca (pictured).
He claimed Spanish producers had “not received a single proposal” from their government that would enable Spanish products to be sold with a greater margin for growers, to reduce costs or to increase awareness among domestic consumers of the country’s fruit and vegetables.
