Tomatoes grown in Almeria

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katy
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Tomatoes grown in Almeria

Postby katy » Sat Oct 01, 2005 12:48 pm

Interesting article in the Mail today saying that tomatoes are grown under plastic without soil and fed doses of chemicals regulated by computer.

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Postby Beachcomber » Sat Oct 01, 2005 2:46 pm

Everything grown in Almería gets the same treatment.

The whole of the area around Roquetas de Mar, Almerimar, El Ejido and Adra is a sea of plastic greehouses and the atmosphere reeks of chemicals and rotting vegetation.

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Postby Bongtrees » Sat Oct 01, 2005 3:55 pm

This is very worrying especially as I recently read about the proliferation of colon cancer in western societies and that it is appearing in much younger age groups than ever seen before i.e. 20-30 years old.

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Postby El Cid » Sat Oct 01, 2005 4:13 pm

It's called Hydroponics - it's been around for years.

There is nothing unusual about feeding plants on chemicals - almost all commercial fertilisers are "chemicals". Soil is not essential to plant growth - all plants need is sunlight, warmth and nutrients.

The biggest danger to health is for the poor illegal immigrants working in the invernaderos when they spray the plants with insecticides and fungicides.

The same chemicals and insecticides etc are used everywhere that commercial crops are produced unless they are expensive organic farms. The only difference in Almeria is that they have more sun and can produce 4 crops a year without paying for heating.

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Postby Andy1 » Sat Oct 01, 2005 4:27 pm

Beachcomber wrote:Everything grown in Almería gets the same treatment.

The whole of the area around Roquetas de Mar, Almerimar, El Ejido and Adra is a sea of plastic greehouses and the atmosphere reeks of chemicals and rotting vegetation.
I beg to differ, I live near Adra and the only thing I can smell at the moment is chicken poop, that is put in the soil

Several of our neighbours own plastic and everyone I have been to grow tomatoes in the ground the normal way we would but covered.

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Postby Beachcomber » Sat Oct 01, 2005 4:59 pm

I used to live in Roquetas de Mar and this was one of the reasons I moved nearly twelve years ago. I gather from people who still live there that it is very much worse now.

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Postby pwwm » Sat Oct 01, 2005 5:43 pm

I agree with Andy, we do live quite close to one another here it is not a problem, but Roquetas is a good 45 min drive along the Autovia, I have friends that grow under plastic using soil and have been inside picking my own veg and have yet to smell anything bads here, Sorry Andy we do not have the "chickenbeep smell"

Obviously things get worse towards Almeria but that is some way from us, but our plastics are going in the next two years as yet another golf course is going in and apartments (for info Andy, La Rabita and El Pozuelo) I would rather it wasn't coming as we have a severe water shortage at the moment and we all know how much water a golf course sucks up

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Postby Andy1 » Sat Oct 01, 2005 6:11 pm

Hi Pwwm,

I have heard various stories about what is going to happen between El Pozuelo and La Rabita, last I heard it was going to be a Marina. Also various stories about 1 million euros being offered for land in the area (I doubt that!) and farmers turning down the offer (I doubt that even more!) I'm not convinced that the plastic will be disappearing in the next 2 years, so many have been redone this year, we were actually told this when we were looking here, 2 years on its still here, sales pitch in action again.

To be honest the plastic doesnt bother me, I would prefer that than a load of houses, we get fresh deliveries of veg from our neighbours for free...even better!

I must admit, I have never been to Roquetas, Almerimar (take kids there often) or to Adra and smelt the chemicals and rotting veg....must be my nose. The only smell I really find offensive around here is the stagnant water that collects in the Rambla and the chicken poo can get a bit much, but got used to that in the Uk as I was surrounded by fields.

I'm not arguing that they dont use plenty of chemicals, but I have yet to see a greenhouse that doesnt grow produce in soil

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Postby jenna m » Sat Oct 01, 2005 6:39 pm

On my last visit in early July near Castell de Ferro there was a very offensive smell which started each night at 10 o'clock , so bad that we had to close all the windows in the house we were staying in , not very pleasant on hot nights with no air conditioning!
The Spanish neighbours seem to know just when to dart inside and close their doors - what did they know that we didn't?
pwwm - just how bad is the water shortage?
Thanks Jenna m

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Postby Beachcomber » Sat Oct 01, 2005 6:50 pm

When I moved there from the UK in the early 1980's it was just barren countryside and the road from the N340 to Roquetas was not much more than a track.

I suppose it was the fact that it all changed so drastically from the late 1980s onwards and the relentless encroachment of the plastic greenhouses that eventually made it unbearable.

Anyway, I'm glad that you and pwwm are not bothered with the same problems but I'm still glad I moved when I did!

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costakid
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Postby costakid » Sat Oct 01, 2005 8:44 pm

There are two pictures in the mail today. What a difference 20 years can make. Both pictures taken by satalite. If you believe everything that you read you would die of hunger. I also think the mail is anti Spain. I think the editor must have come to Spain on holiday and caught a dose of Francos revenge.

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Postby katy » Sat Oct 01, 2005 10:39 pm

You can't just blame the Mail, a couple of Spanish guys are quoted in the article one of them a professor at granada university who is concerned about the incidence of stomach upsets etc. I spent some time in Almerimar in the eighties and it was a tip, plastic on the hills, flies everywhere and at certain times everyone was advised to close windows because of the intensive crop spraying.

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Postby Beachcomber » Sat Oct 01, 2005 11:28 pm

I'm not sure if it's the same one but this article was published in the Guardian about a week ago.

I think the two photographs referred to by costakid are this one and this one.

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silver
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Postby silver » Sun Oct 02, 2005 8:07 am

When Almeria stop growing...who is going to supply Europe with tomatoes?

I read that Hydroponics - would gradually take over and the green houses would turn into growing factories as in Japan, where plants grow, without soil and are fed water and nutrients, in rooms that are bug free and do not need insecticides and fungicides...
No muerdes la mano que te da de comer.

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costakid
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Postby costakid » Sun Oct 02, 2005 12:30 pm

They are the ones beach.

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Gin Monster
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Postby Gin Monster » Tue Feb 27, 2007 3:03 am

pwwm wrote:Obviously things get worse towards Almeria but that is some way from us, but our plastics are going in the next two years as yet another golf course is going in and apartments (for info Andy, La Rabita and El Pozuelo) I would rather it wasn't coming as we have a severe water shortage at the moment and we all know how much water a golf course sucks up
I appreciate this is an old post, but have just joined the forum and found it. Is there any update on the marina/golf course etc for La Rabita / El Pozuelo?? Have heard many people mention it but nothing much seems to be happening on our visit last week

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Postby Alpujarra » Tue Feb 27, 2007 10:55 pm

Casa you old devil!!!

Guess who!!

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Gin Monster
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Postby Gin Monster » Tue Feb 27, 2007 11:14 pm

Oh no!!!! There's no escape....HELP!!!

olive
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Postby olive » Wed Feb 28, 2007 2:48 pm

Tomatoes and other salad crops are 80% or more water, so Spain exports millions of tons of water each year!! Ye hah.

There was a UK health problem recently with Spanish produced lettuces washed in contaminated water (presumably "grey" water) as there was no clean water available. Maybe the smell is watering at night (less evaporation) with grey water. Ugh. Still despite being tasteless they are cheap!

Don't you love progress.

We went for a walk last year in the plasticulture inland from Adra to see what and how they were growing stuff and were truly shocked by the shanty houses the workers live in. Like something from a real third world country.

olive

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Postby Valencia_Paul » Wed Feb 28, 2007 9:38 pm

olive wrote:...We went for a walk last year in the plasticulture inland from Adra to see what and how they were growing stuff and were truly shocked by the shanty houses the workers live in. Like something from a real third world country.

olive
Yes I've driven right through the plastic greenhouse area and it was very scruffy. I thought that one of the problems with this method was that they were exhausting the fresh water from bore holes and eventually the water will turn salty as it gets replaced by sea water.


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