Maresme lost 31% of its land used for horticultural crops between 2020 and 2025, according to figures from the Generalitat de Catalunya. The decline matters for local growers and shoppers because less than 20% of the horticultural produce consumed in Catalonia is grown in Catalonia, the Generalitat's director general for Agriculture and Livestock, Rosa Altisent, said.
The reduction in Maresme was steeper than the Catalan average of 26%. Baix Ebre recorded the largest fall cited in the data, at 38%.
Maresme nevertheless remains one of the Catalan areas with the largest horticultural surfaces, alongside Baix Llobregat, Baix Camp, Montsià and Baix Ebre. Horticultural land accounts for 1.2% of Catalonia's total land area.
“We must help the sector with every possible measure to guarantee competitiveness, food sovereignty and its future,” Altisent said.
Two-year plan centres on farm technology and training
The Generalitat's Executive Council has approved a two-year Technified Horticulture Plan. It is intended to modernise horticultural production, including existing greenhouses and proposed new facilities, so farms can improve productivity and compete more effectively.
The plan sets out four areas of work:
- technology and competitiveness for farms;
- innovation and the transfer of practical knowledge to growers;
- specialist training; and
- simpler procedures intended to help farms innovate and invest.
Altisent said the amount of technologically advanced horticulture in Catalonia is “very small”. The plan proposes a high-technology greenhouse at the Cabrils Agricultural School, in Maresme, as a site for training, testing and demonstrating horticultural technology.
It also provides for a network of demonstration spaces and advisory programmes involving IRTA, the Catalan Institute for Food and Agricultural Research, universities, businesses and producers. The Generalitat's figures and Altisent's statements were reported by Línia Xarxa.
