On 21 October, the technical conference called 'Growing lettuce. Situation and Prospects' was organised at the Scenic Arts Centre of Torre-Pacheco by the local council, the Council of Water, Agriculture and Environment of Murcia and Cajamar Caja Rural. Over 170 industry professionals, including producers, technicians and entrepreneurs, participated in this meeting, in which the latest developments in crop management and plant protection were presented, highlighting the need to add value to Murcia's production by taking advantage of the possibilities offered by industrial processing.
The opening day was attended by Fina Marín, mayor of Torre-Pacheco; Juana Mulero, Director General of Innovación Agroalimentaria (Agro-food Innovation); and Jesús López, regional director of Cajamar in Murcia. Carlos Baixauli, of Cajamar's Experimental Centre in Paiporta, presented the handling practices to grow lettuce adapted to the region's climatic and varietal conditions with efficient water use. Maria Isabel Gil (CEBAS-CSIC) showed in her presentation how pre-harvest factors affect the quality of the lettuce intended for processing. For his part, the agricultural engineer Antonio Marhuenda addressed the importance of generating value added to increase the competitiveness of the companies. Lastly, the importance of addressing phytosanitary issues in these crops was also highlighted. Antonio Monserrat (Imida), focused on current concerns for the sector, as well as on the risk of the entry of new pests or diseases, that could benefit from changes in the cycles or farming techniques.
In south-eastern Spain there are 25,000 hectares devoted to lettuce cultivation, mostly in Campo de Cartagena, which accounts for 50% of the national production, followed in importance by other districts of the region and the coastline of the provinces of Almeria and Malaga. Murcia is the leading Spanish exporter, mainly of the Iceberg variety, with Germany, France and the Netherlands as the main markets.
