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La Segarra county cultivates pistachios for the first time in history

This crop was impossible before the irrigation channel “Segarra-Garrigues” because, apart from many hours of sunshine and cold, it takes large amounts of water

La Segarra county will count from 2018 with a new agricultural product until now never cultivated in the region: the pistachio. At the moment, about 1,700 trees have been planted in a total of 6 hectares and, at the beginning of next year, the plantation will extend over eight more hectares. It is a cooperation project between Borges and the farmers that, in recent years, has already been carried out in the neighboring counties of L’Urgell, La Noguera and Les Garrigues, and in which the agri-food group is in charge of marketing, processing and advice services.

The cultivation of the pistachio was until a few years ago unthinkable in the dry land because, despite having a climatology that favors this crop, there were large amounts of water needed, which did not exist before the arrival of Segarra-Garrigues irrigation channel . This situation forced us to make large imports from California, since in the Iberian Peninsula the demand for pistachio is 14 times higher than its production.

The pistachio is today one of the crops that generates more profitability, although it takes between four and five years to give the first fruits, has a productive life of five decades. It is estimated that this plantation in the Segarra county will generate about 2,000 kg per hectare annually.

Source: La Segarra TV