Regional Farming in Spain: An Overview
Oceanic Agricultural Landscape
Agriculture: Concentrated in valley bottoms, specializing in gardening for human consumption (potatoes, vegetables) and forage crops for livestock.
Livestock Farming: More significant due to abundant mountain grazing areas. Specializes in extensive beef cattle, with increasing importance of native breeds. Coastal and urban areas feature intensive mixed cattle farming. Both feedlot and dairy products are surplus in the European Union, leading to production quotas.
Peninsula Hinterland Agricultural Landscape
Agriculture: Shows great contrasts between dryland and irrigated areas.
- Dryland Crops: Feature the Mediterranean trilogy. Fallow rotation with cereals, sunflower seeds, or legumes predominates in Castilla y Leon, while vines and olive trees are more important in Castilla-La Mancha, Aragon, and Extremadura.
- Irrigation: In both Submesetas, it is used for intensive cultivation of industrial crops like sugar beet, hops, and tobacco.
Livestock Farming: Primarily extensive sheep farming in cereal stubble, and sheep, swine, and cattle in the dehesas of Extremadura, Salamanca, and Zamora. Intensive cattle and swine breeding has gained importance near urban consumption centers.
Mediterranean Agricultural Landscape
Agriculture: Presents significant contrasts. Dryland farming includes cereals, vines, and olive trees. Irrigated areas feature outdoor and plastic-covered horticulture, citrus and pome fruit trees, and tropical fruits in milder temperature zones.
Livestock Farming: Important. Extensive sheep and goats dominate in rainfed areas, while Catalonia focuses on intensive cattle and pig farming.
Agricultural Landscape of the Canaries
Agriculture: The coast specializes in export monocultures (early potatoes, tomatoes, bananas), plastic-covered crops (peppers, cucumbers, flowers), and tropical fruits (papaya, avocado). Inland, subsistence farming focuses on vines, potatoes, and wheat.
Livestock Farming: Very low due to limited pastures. Extensive sheep and goats, and intensive poultry farming are predominant.
Agriculture and its Types
The farming countryside roughly coincides with the Guadalquivir valley. Medium and large-scale operations are common. Rainfed agriculture is practiced, while irrigation is expanding. Main crops include cereals, especially wheat, and industrial crops like sugar beet and sunflower. Jaén province is known for its olive tree monoculture.
Mediterranean Agriculture
Develops along the coast and is well-adapted to market demands. This area practices intensive, high-productivity irrigated agriculture based on three pillars: plastic-covered cultivation, enarenado (sand mulching), and drip irrigation. Known as the ‘New Andalusian Agriculture,’ each area specializes in specific products. For example, Huelva coast cultivates strawberries, oranges, and potatoes; the coast of Chipiona and Sanlúcar focuses on flowers; the coast of Cádiz produces avocados and tropical products; and the Almería coast grows orchard and vegetable products like tomatoes, beans, peppers, and melons.
Mountain Farming
Practiced in the Sierra Morena and Betic mountain ranges. Logging and livestock farming are dominant. Small subsistence farms (smallholdings) use rudimentary technology for rainfed agriculture with low fertilizer use. Main crops are cereals and olives, with low yields.