Drought and Labor Shortages Threaten Huelva’s Strawberry Harvest

Between the drought, the new regulation on plant protection products and the delay in the arrival of Moroccan seasonal workers, the strawberry and berry campaign this year will be "one of the most complicated," said Félix Sanz, the general secretary of Asaja-Huelva, in an interview with Europa Press. The ban on the use of plant protection products will lead to "a considerable drop in production and is one of the big problems of this campaign," explains Sanz, denouncing a situation that "disadvantages (Spanish) producers compared to producers in other countries."

This year, some 5,000 seasonal workers from Morocco, Honduras and Ecuador will be recruited for the strawberry campaign. "We must say that the arrival of the seasonal workers from Morocco has been considerably delayed due to bureaucratic problems that the administrations of the two countries must resolve as soon as possible, especially since the high temperatures of recent days will accelerate production and the participation of these seasonal workers is necessary. They should all have arrived before April 22," he assured.