Fruit and vegetables, increasingly less grown in Menorca

CitadelMenorca has 118.59 hectares dedicated to vegetable (51.59) and fruit (67) production, a clear indication of the diversification taking place in the countryside today, a far cry from the livestock, milk, and cheese production model that has historically dominated the island's economy. Specifically, statistics provided by the Menorca Island Council show 41 hectares dedicated to vegetables; 42 to stone fruit; 27 to nuts; and the remainder to potatoes and citrus fruits. According to the Balearic Government's Institute for Agri-Food and Fisheries Research and Training (IRFAP), approximately 840 tons of vegetables and fruit are produced throughout Menorca. Notable production includes 139 tons of potatoes, 119 tons of melons, 92 tons of tomatoes (of all varieties), 72 tons of watermelons, 67 tons of stone fruit, and 58 tons of artichokes. Some producers sell their produce through agricultural cooperatives, and there are also 32 fruit growers, 40 vegetable growers, and 11 legume growers who are promoted through Agroxerxa, the marketing support tool for products from farmers in Consell, funded by the farmers of Menorca. This is the case, for example, of Son Magnà, a family orchard in Alaior run by Llorenç Caules, who, for the past 30 years, has been the third generation of his family to tend the fruit trees on the property. Another example is Josep Lluís Gonyalons, who maintains the family farm in Algendaret Vell, where he produces organic fruit and vegetables. It is one of the 17 orchards linked to Agroxerxa that produce aromatic plants, an increasingly popular alternative in the agricultural sector.

But it is in the Cala en Porter ravine where the largest number of small producers are concentrated, also continuing businesses started by their predecessors. Javi Mascaró and his brother Ismael manage three orchards: Torrellisà Nou, Huerto Nuevo de Torraubet Nou, and, closer to the Plans de Alaior area, S'Estada de Binixabó. In total, they have six and a half hectares where they produced 33,255 kilos (just over 33 tons) of fruit and vegetables last year. As in other cases, it was their father who, in 1979, began marketing the produce from the family orchard. Both sons helped to grow the business from the age of 16, and since the founder's retirement, they now manage it. Unlike many other market gardeners, they do it all on their own. From apples to pears and persimmons, they harvest everything they plant, store it in the warehouse, and distribute it personally, twice a week, to the San Crispín Cooperative in Alaior and to small shopkeepers and specialty stores in Maó, Sant Climent, Sant Lluís, and Es Castell, always in the Levante region of Menorca. "It's more work, but it's profitable enough," admits Javier. The prices are even higher than the fruit sold by distributors: "We value the work it entails. We have fewer intermediaries, so we can negotiate better prices with the shopkeepers."

The ravines of Algendar and Cala en Porter

Since 2007, Cáritas Diocesana has been running a fruit and vegetable production project on the Canaló and Sant Antoni de S'Aranjassa farms in the Algendar ravine (Ferreries). They dedicate half a hectare and some 350 trees, some of which are planted as part of reforestation efforts. All the harvested produce is then sold through the San Bartolomé and Camp de Menorca Cooperatives, the GOB Nursery, and the Auxiliar Agrícola Menorquina (Auxam) company. The main drawback is its location in a flood-prone area, which has already suffered the consequences in the past. Raquel Hernández, Cáritas' communications officer, admits that "we are greatly affected by unforeseen weather events, as the production area floods, damaging tools, machinery, and plants, breaking grafts, and even sweeping away pots." The last instance dates back to November 2021, just after the pandemic ended. But much of the fruit sold in Menorca's shops and markets comes from elsewhere. Half a dozen distribution companies on the island are responsible for importing it. This is the case with Menorcafruit, which has been doing so since 1946; Frutas Jover; and Fresc y Bo, a wholesale company created in 2006 and based in the Alaior industrial park. Using greenhouses, they supply fruit and vegetables to bars, hotels, and restaurants. Their manager, Vicent Pons, says they also source their own produce, grown on the S'Engolidor farm in Migjorn Gran: tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, melons, watermelons, and aromatic herbs.

Agromenorca also owns its own farm in Torelló, a plot of land where it grows whatever the season allows. It also has greenhouses to distribute fruit and vegetables year-round to the large supermarket chains and stores on the island. The rest comes from Mallorca, through its partners at Agroilla.

The manager of the Menorca Agricultural Cooperative, Antonia Bosch, believes that "the lack of generational leadership and administrative complications, partly due to the gradual disappearance of the sharecropping system in agriculture, have resulted in low fruit production, which only partially meets the high demand, especially during peak season. There are few professional farmers dedicated to vegetables, but in autumn and winter there are few." The key, Bosch continues, lies in "being able to offset the price with the volume of production, but when that's not possible, it ceases to be profitable."

Even so, Sa Cooperativa is trying to incentivize production, which remains restricted to about fifty farms. However, only about ten maintain it year-round. The increasing diversification of agricultural production and the growing specialization towards other sectors, such as olive oil, wine, or aromatic plants, doesn't help either.