Pesticide shortage, labour availability and opening of new markets all highlighted during talks
Members of Spanish exporter federation Fepex met with agriculture minister Luis Planas on Thursday to discuss the main challenges facing the fruit, vegetable, flower, and live plant sectors, including the shortage of pesticides, the lack of labour, and the opening of new markets.
This was the first meeting between new Fepex president Cecilio Peregrín and the minister since Peregrín’s appointment last December.
It was also the first meeting with the minister for the new director of Fepex, Ignacio Antequera, who assumed the position on 1 July, and the first meeting as a board member of the Federation for Jose María Pozancos, who served as director of Fepex for the past 33 years.
Among the challenges that Fepex officials conveyed to the minister were the shortage of phytosanitary products, which increasingly reduces the ability to efficiently address pests, as well as the lack of workers, which have become structural problems for farms.
They also suggested that, in an environment as competitive as the EU market, which is increasingly open to third-country production and at the same time more regulated for EU production, more investment would be needed to improve farm profitability.
Fepex is calling for Producer Organisations to be strengthened within the framework of the future Common Agricultural Policy, and an increase in EU aid for operational programmes, which finance individual and collective investments on farms.
The meeting also discussed the agreement between the agriculture ministry and Fepex to promote the production and quality of Spanish fruits, vegetables, flowers, and live plants in international markets through participation in trade fairs for the years 2025 and 2026.
It was agreed that this contributes to strengthening the country’s presence in important markets and opening up new destinations.
