argia.eus
INPRIMATU
Iker, ten years working the organic garden
"It seems that our authorities have a focus on Food For Future and on hydroponic and galactic projects"
  • The collective cultivation of Duina has investigated the cost prices and working conditions of organic orchards. On September 27, Biolur presented the results of this study, in which Iker read the following text. He has collaborated with ten other horticulturists in collecting detailed daily data for the investigation. It talks about the importance of this work and the difficult future of organic production:
ARGIA @argia 2022ko irailaren 30
Nerea eta Iker, Duina ikerlanean parte hartu duten 11 baratzezainetako bi. Hainbat barazkiren kasuan, ekoizpen kostuak prezioa bera baino garestiagoak direla erakutsi du azterlanak, eta Nereak azpimarratu du ikerlan honetan berretsi dutela zenbat maite duten haien lana.

I remember very well on 18 June 2020, here at the ENEEK headquarters in Amorebieta, when we met the girls of Biolur, a group of farmers. What they were proposing from the outset was a great challenge, adding up work. But we take the challenge, we take the backpack on the neck, and after two years we're here.

We accept the challenge because we dedicate ourselves to the garden, there are already about 10 years, and each year we ask similar questions: if we go well, if we go on the right track, if all this work is worth it and if we are going to last another year ... For all these years we've collected a lot of information in our notebooks, but we haven't been able to interrelate all that information, dive in and repress it to the last drop ... And look, that's where Biolur's technicians came up. And a little bit of fear and a little bit of joy, we also embarked on that Digina project. This two-year experience has enabled us to answer these questions.

Boom! What jobs do we take! I seem to have dedicated 104 hours to Duina, but it looks like it's been 1,004! Detailed data collection, excell and applications... I've found myself in little hours of the night to square what's common and insert tiny details into the tables. I'm going to tell you that the data collection phase of the research has been heavy, clay like our land. But it was worth it, of course! It has been worth it for several reasons:

- We have obtained great X-rays of our projects, both economically and technically.

- We have been allowed to compare these data and, consequently, improve our productions.

- We have had the opportunity to find an extraordinary technical team and have become aware of the importance of this knowledge.

- We have realized that there is a world beyond the baserritarras group of our valley, and it has really been a pleasure.

- We hope that we have put our sand fin to dignify the living and working conditions of the horticulturists.

I'm going to tell you, though, that I've reached 2022 with a point of despair. Because it seems that our authorities have a look at "Food For Future" and hydroponic and galactic projects. It seems that official reports say that the consumption of organic products has not gone down throughout the pandemic, but did we not think that that pandemic was going to change anything? Should it not have increased that consumption? What should our authorities do to ensure that 25% of CAPV agricultural land is environmentally friendly by 2030 (within 8 years)? It is currently 4.6%... Doubting the lives of the baserritars would certainly be a great step on this road. The data is there ...

Well, today we have come together here to celebrate a well-done job and to know how to follow the research conclusions. Serve this effort to give the sector some freshness. This round, clay, freshly baked jar, will it bring us new tap water home?