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What is the cost price of organic vegetables?

  • The Association for Organic Agriculture Biolur has presented the conclusions of the collective elaboration "Duina". Detailed data on 11 orchards from Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa have been collected for detailed knowledge of the production costs and working hours of organic orchards. Some conclusions have been that the production costs of seven types of vegetables are higher than the selling price; that each horticulturist makes an average of 10% higher than the number of hours per year covered by the labour agreement; that the average annual wage of organic farmers is EUR 14,990 and that the subsidies they receive are only 5.42% of the income. To present this study and the precariousness of the sector, the presentations of the project "Duina" have been organized in each region.

30 September 2022 - 07:30
Last updated: 08:33

As collaborators of ENEEK (Council of Agriculture and Organic Food of the Basque Country), the Biolur association presented the results of the "Duina" study on 27 September at its headquarters in Amorebieta-Etxano. The work has been collective, and so was the presentation: representatives of Biolur and the UPV who have developed the investigation took the floor, as well as two out of 11 horticulturists who have had to collect daily a lot of detailed data of their activity (here the supercogedora was read in its entirety by the horticulturist Iker). Among the attendees, close to 40 actors from agriculture and organic livestock and food sovereignty met, and all applauded the contribution of this study to be able to argue prices to shoppers and empower producers.

By 2030, in line with the European strategy "From farmland to table", 25% of the European Union's land will have to be cultivated ecologically. Currently, the percentage of ecologically cultivated land in the CAPV is 4.6 per cent. “With this challenge, it is essential to dignify the lives of the baserritars,” said Biolur members. Many of the projects started in the eco-industry have explained that they do not last long and that conditions need to be put in place to overcome precariousness.

Average annual hours 10% more than those included in the labour agreement

ENEEK and Biolur produced an Excell table prepared and ENEEK developed an application for each horticulturist to write in detail all hours of work performed on the day, as well as detailed information of all the activity. In the presentation, they emphasized that this data collection work has been very laborious, that it has been added to the work of the garden in small hours of the night, but that any producer has at his disposal this tool to be able to use it if he wants to analyze his activity in detail. The horticulturists who participated in the project have expressed their gratitude for the research ("it has been laborious, but it has been worthwhile") and for the specialized report each has received from its project, which will help them to improve their viability.

More than 100,000 data have been collected, from which it appears that horticulturists have worked an average of 1,953 hours, 10% more than the labour agreement. But on average, there's a horticulturist who includes 53 percent more than the 1,800 hours defined by the labor agreement.

Another characteristic is that they have to work in a very diverse way: 65.83% of the hours spent have been spent on agriculture, 22.9% on marketing, 5.57% on management, 4.53% on collectivization and 1.16% on surveillance.

They also indicated that it is a very closely linked job, that in case of sickness or vacation it is not easy for a reliever to take the march and that, with the very precarious annual benefits, there is no margin to pay the substitute promptly. They stressed that the main priority is to improve the substitution service.

Prices of vegetables and margins of each form of sale

In calculating the cost of production for each of the vegetables, account has been taken of the hours invested in each individual work, the growing area of the orchard and the time it has lasted, the amount of the harvest received, the exact quantity of these materials and the price at which it has been sold... The table that shows the costs of production and sales will take the heart of the citizen and perhaps the gardener will show in numbers what he already knew:

- Carrot: Cost of production EUR 4.8 and minimum price EUR 3 and maximum EUR 4.5

- Broccoli: production cost EUR 5.44 and minimum price EUR 3.5 and maximum EUR 4

- Pea: production cost EUR 11.43 and minimum price EUR 6 and maximum EUR 12

- Pumpkin: production cost EUR 2.33 and minimum price EUR 2 and maximum EUR 4

- Green beans: production cost EUR 12.65 and minimum prices EUR 4 and maximum EUR 7

- Lettuce: production cost EUR 1.14 and minimum price EUR 0.8 and maximum EUR 1.2

- Pimiento (Gernika): production cost 13.17 euros and minimum price 6 euros and maximum 12 euros

- Pimiento (Italian): production cost EUR 3.47 and minimum price EUR 3 and maximum EUR 5.5

- Leek: production cost EUR 5.38 and minimum price EUR 3.6 and maximum EUR 4.5

- Onion: production cost EUR 4.87 and minimum price EUR 2 and maximum EUR 3.5

- Tomato: production cost EUR 4.07 and minimum price EUR 3 and maximum EUR 5.5

- Accelerates: production cost EUR 2.32 and minimum price EUR 2 and maximum EUR 3.5

The "Duina" project has also analysed the margin of sale offered by each marketing channel. They highlight that 40% of organic gardeners have two sales routes, while the remaining 60% have more than three sales routes. All these tracks are short-circuit, local, which contribute to the development of the local economy and foster direct relationships with buyers. Conversely, consumer groups and baskets are the ones with the most margin for gardeners (56.97%), followed by small trade (26.14%), third markets (12.2%) and others (4.19%).

Annual precarious wage with land on property

The comparison assumes that the Charter of Social Rights has a salary of EUR 16,800: organic gardeners get an average of EUR 14,990 per year. But the difference is greater than the EUR 30,000 that the Ministry of Agriculture puts as a reference.

They stress that all these numbers have a basic premise: that the land is in ownership. And this is a huge problem in bringing future organic farmers closer together.

Regional talks under the slogan "Dignified Production, Popular Consumption"

Biolur members have stressed that the right to a healthy diet should be guaranteed by all citizens, and they will launch a campaign that combines producers and citizens to make known the knowledge gathered in the Duina study: Under the slogan "Dignified Production, Popular Consumption".

In Gipuzkoa and Bizkaia, the following citations have been organized to bring research closer to citizenship:

- 6 October Bergara. 8:30 hours in the Irizar Room

- 13 October Tolosa. 19:00 hours at Tinglado

- 20 October Azpeitia. 19:00h In food

- October 27, 17:30 Etartien

- November 3 in Lazkao. 19:00 Biziolan

- 8 November Zizurkil. In Fraisoro, technical session at 12:00

- November 10 in Oiartzun. 19:00 Labore Oarson


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