The cultivation of garlic in Malaga is, apart from tomatoes, one of the most important in the province. The annual production amounts to about 7,480 tonnes of garlic, whose value at origin in 2016 amounted to 19.45 million Euro. In an attempt to improve the crop's viability, the Agricultural and Fisheries Research and Training Institute (IFAPA) is involved in two projects with the objective of moving forward in the protection and conservation of purple garlic, the main variety grown in Malaga and Andalusia.
Both projects have been presented in Antequera by the delegate of the Andalusian Government, José Luis Ruiz Espejo, and the territorial delegate of Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development, Javier Salas, in the Comarcal Agrarian Office. The event was also attended by the IFAPA director in Malaga, María Nieves Cruz, as well as the IFAPA researchers from Churriana who are leading the projects, Araceli Barceló and Isabel González.
Ruiz Espejo explained that, because of its special characteristics, garlic does not reproduce by generating seeds, but it does so by vegetative multiplication, which makes it necessary to keep live collections in storage. One of the projects developed by the IFAPA in Churriana aims at the in vitro conservation of this variety by "creating a backup of the crop in the germplasm bank of IFAPA, thus guaranteeing its availability for cultivation."
The second of IFAPA's research projects focuses on the protection of purple garlic with diagnostic techniques for the detection of the virus that affects the crop, thus making it possible to obtain a healthy garlic bank that can be used for planting.
For Ruiz Espejo, these projects represent an important step forward in two fundamental aspects: obtaining a plant material as healthy as possible in the face of virus attacks, and the conservation of the same as a backup to ensure the crop's preservation in the best conditions of quality, productivity and resistance to diseases.
Ruiz Espejo highlighted the socioeconomic importance of garlic cultivation for the province of Malaga, which in 2016 reached a total production of 7,480 tonnes worth 19.45 million Euro. He also pointed out that this is an economic activity that generates wealth and requires a high volume of labour and thus generates employment.
The Government delegate explained that the production in 2016 represents an increase of 79.9% in economic value compared to the 2015 campaign, while in terms of volume the increase has been of 21%, going from 6,180 tonnes in 2015 to 7,480 tonnes in 2016.
Salas has stated that the cultivation of garlic in the province of Malaga is carried out on 800 hectares and that 75% of the activities take place in the Vega de Antequera. He also highlighted the work being done by IFAPA, one of the leading research centres at national level, for the continuous improvement of the agricultural and fishing sector in Andalusia.
Ruiz Espejo and Javier Salas have visited one of the garlic plantations that have been set up in Vega de Antequera, at Finca Las Moscosas in Antequera, where the company Proaco manages a farm with 200 hectares mainly devoted to the cultivation of purple garlic, as well as to the Spring variety.
The main destination for the garlic production of this farm is the export market, with shipments going mainly to the European Union and Latin America, although some of the production is also supplied in the domestic market. In addition to the farm in Antequera, Proaco manages garlic farms in other provinces of Andalusia and Castile-La Mancha.
