Source: AFP
Two decades ago, Miguel Ángel García harvested grapes and grain on his farm in central Spain, just like his father and grandfather before him.
Now it produces peanuts — a more profitable crop that can better withstand the droughts that have become more frequent and severe in Spain.
Garcia harvests 10 to 20 tons of the green nut each year on his 26-hectare (64-acre) farm in Manzanares in the central region of Castilla-La Mancha, part of a boom in pistachio production in Spain.
“Wine and grain were no longer viable,” said the 58-year-old, who planted his first peanuts in 2007. “If I hadn’t changed, I wouldn’t have been able to live off my farm.”
In the stony lot behind him, an electric harvester latched onto the trunk of a small peanut tree and then shook it, causing the nuts to fall onto a huge canvas set up below, open like an upside-down umbrella.
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Native to the Middle East, peanuts are “hardy” and “adapted to the climate we have here” with its hot, dry summers and cold winters, Garcia said.
The area of land devoted to peanuts in Spain has almost quintupled since 2017 to 79,000 hectares (195,000 acres) in 2024, according to Agriculture Ministry data.
“Strong Demand”
Source: AFP
This makes Spain the largest peanut producer in Europe in terms of area, and the fourth largest in the world after the United States, Iran and Turkey.
Most pistachios are grown in Castilla-La Mancha as well as Extremadura in the west and Andalusia in the south, which are facing water shortages due to climate change.
This crop comes from a “desert area” and is “much better adapted” to the new climate reality, said Mario Gonzalez-Mohino, agricultural engineer and director of specialist website Pistacho Pro.
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Spain experienced its hottest August on record this year, with temperatures averaging 25 degrees Celsius (77 Fahrenheit) — and the national weather service says 2024 could rival 2022 as the hottest on record.
Spain’s production — nearly 9,000 tons a year — is “still limited” but “will increase rapidly because the vast majority of plots are not in production,” as it takes at least seven years before a newly planted tree yields its first harvest, he added.
Joaquin Cayuela Verges, secretary general of the Pistamancha agricultural cooperative that brings together 51 pistachio farms, said the boom has only just begun.
“There’s a lot of demand, it’s a dynamic industry,” he said.
The cooperative, based in the town of Pozuelo de Calatrava, sells 90 percent of its pistachio production in Europe, mainly France and Germany, for 10-11 euros per kilogram (about $5 a pound).
“A Matter of Patience”
Source: AFP
To keep up with its rapid expansion, Pistamancha is spending five million euros to build a new plant to sort, shell and dry its pistachios.
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It will be able to process one million kilos of peanuts annually when completed, Cayuela Verges said.
Could this boom lead to overproduction that will drive down prices? Those involved in the industry see little risk, as the amount of peanuts produced in Spain falls far short of domestic demand.
In Spain, peanuts are still “mainly imported,” mainly from the United States, said Gonzalez-Mohino, who foresees a “bright future” for national producers of the crop.
Pistachios are mostly eaten as a snack, but are also widely used in Middle Eastern cuisine, as well as in the production of cakes, desserts, ice cream and cosmetics.
“A lot of people think they’re going to get rich, but when you plant peanuts, you have to realize you’re not going to have anything for several years” until the trees “start to bear fruit,” Garcia said.
“I have been investing” in this crop for 15 years and “only now I can recover what I spent and earn a living. Peanuts are a matter of patience,” he said.
Source: AFP
