“The state of the vineyards in Lanzarote after the 2020 harvest is worrying.” This is warned by a study prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Government of the Canary Islands, which makes a diagnosis of viticulture throughout the archipelago. In the case of Lanzarote, the main problem is the “very high dependence on rain”, since “the quality of irrigation water is limited or non-existent”. In addition, it also highlights that “the price of irrigation water is very high”.
The study details that the situation worsened last year, both on this island and in the rest of the Canary Islands, “due to the drought”. “Many plots have extremely weakened plants, very short and defoliated shoots,” it points out with respect to Lanzarote.
In addition, although it points out that “the use of drip irrigation has been extended where possible”, managing to “keep some plots in better condition or with sufficient vigor for the next pruning”, it insists that “it is convenient to have support irrigation to guarantee the continuity and viability of the crops”.
In fact, it emphasizes that "in the central areas of the island there are water problems even for the normal operation of the wineries”. For this reason, it highlights that it is necessary for the irrigation network to “reach Tinajo and El Cuchillo”, and also “bring water to Mancha Blanca through Las Quemadas and Tisalaya”. Similarly, it considers it necessary to “bring water to La Geria, through the Masdache area, which requires a study on the alternatives, impact and viability, taking into account that protected spaces would be crossed”.
Less cultivated area
During the preparation of this diagnosis, a reduction in the cultivation area on the island was also found compared to 2014, which is the year in which the previous Crop Map was made. Specifically, they detected a decrease of about 14 hectares, although the study points to a “certain stability despite the recent drought”.
However, it does emphasize that it was especially pronounced in the municipality of Haría, and insists that “if it is desired to change this trend, irrigation water must be obtained in the northern area of Lanzarote”. In addition, the report also warns of another risk for the future of the sector, and that is that “the average age of winegrowers is very high”.
Among the “weaknesses”, it also includes that the size of the plots and farms is “very small, with low yields per hectare”; the “restrictive regulations that prevent having rofe and stones for plantations”; and the “difficulty of mechanizing many plots”.
The only island where there is significant consumption among tourists
Regarding the “strengths”, it emphasizes that there is “a lot of wine tradition, with thousands of interested people”, and that it is an island “with a large number of tourists, who generate greater consumption of wine at a sufficient price”. In fact, the study refers to Lanzarote as the only exception in the archipelago, in which it is common for tourists to consume the island's wines during their stay.
It also highlights “the technical capacity of the wineries”, the “greater professionalization of crops and business management of wineries”, the absence of slopes that allow “certain mechanization”, the fact that the Malvasía volcánica variety “is unique” and that the wine landscape of Lanzarote is a “tourist resource”.
In addition, it also points to the volume of abandoned cultivation soils available as one of the sector's “opportunities”, as well as the “presence of Lanzarote wines in large national distribution”, which “opens the door to others that require export”, and “the appearance of market niches for white and sweet wines with special characteristics”.
Regarding what the Covid-19 crisis has meant for the entire sector in the Canary Islands, the study points out that “sales in the hotel and restaurant channel have been reduced” but “they have increased in retail and internet distribution”. In fact, it emphasizes that Covid “has led to an increase in the digitization of some tasks and in home sales of Canary wine”.
The objective of this report commissioned by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Government of the Canary Islands, according to the regional Executive, is to adopt measures to “compensate for the weaknesses and threats detected, as well as take advantage of its potential and the opportunities that arise in the current environment”.
