Canary Islands produces an average of 375.000 tons of banana a year.

The president of ASPROCAN shows the president of the Cabildo of Gran Canaria the importance that banana cultivation plays on the island.

A representation of the Executive Committee of the Association of Banana Producer Organizations of the Canary Islands (ASPROCAN), headed by its president, Santiago Rodriguez, has held a meeting with the president of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, Antonio Morales.

The event took place within the framework of a visit organized by the producers to a farm in Arucas and a banana packaging in the municipality of Santa María de Guía.

The event was also attended by the island counselor of Primary Sector and Food Sovereignty of the Cabildo of Gran Canaria, Miguel Hidalgo.

During the visit, Antonio Morales was able to see in situ the reality of banana production in the Islands, focusing on the peculiarities of the banana growing process, as well as the previous packaging process What is followed to transport bananas to points of sale.

The representatives of ASPROCAN delved into the current situation in the sector, marked by the effects of the reduction of tariffs on imports of bananas from third countries. In this sense, Santiago Rodríguez expressed the concern of the sector for the future that lies ahead, and insisted on the need for banana cultivation to continue to have the support of aid from the European Union, at the same time as claimed the need to articulate transport aid to be able to compete on equal terms.

Also, He referred to the aid established for bananas in the Specific Options Program for Remoteness and Insularity. (POSEI), making known their obtaining process and how they were specifically attributed by the European Union itself to protect the community banana, being also the result of a thorough analysis by the European Commission and in exchange for tough sectoral reforms.

Santiago Rodríguez stressed the importance that the banana sector has within the agricultural and economic activity of the Archipelago, Taking into account that produces an average of 375.000 tons of bananas per year and generates around 12.000 permanent jobs. In the case of the island of Gran Canaria, highlighted the more than 85 million kilos produced in the year 2015, encompassing the 724 generating producers of more than 1.500 jobs for a production that extends over a total of 1.725 hectares.

Also, highlighted the differentiation of Plátano de Canarias as a quality and environmentally friendly product, which makes it one of the products most valued by consumers and with the lowest environmental impact..

He recalled that the relevance of the sector goes even beyond the purely agricultural. In this sense, stated that it is a stable product in production and labor throughout the year and that allows nearly one million kilos of bananas to leave the ports daily, which translates into the generation of wealth in the Canary Islands due to the knock-on effect that this activity has not only in the agricultural field but in the entire economic activity of the Islands..

At the meeting, ASPROCAN announced the actions carried out by the sector regarding the organization of the sector, becoming a reference as the backbone entity of all the Canary Islands banana producer organizations.