We all see, more and more often, sweet potatoes from the United States, Portugal or Egypt in supermarket fruit shops, which is causing the displacement of sweet potatoes from Lanzarote. We don't know if it will be forever.
Today, it is not only the main crop in kilos, but it also contributes the most, after the vines, to the maintenance of the island's landscape. But, it is also noted how each year more farmers abandon: sometimes due to the drought that has been affecting those cultivated "in strict dry land" in the sand, where practically nothing has been planted in recent years; and others, due to the frequent cuts in the supply of agricultural water that reduces the production of those harvested in the sands, making the farms unsustainable and that will end up being abandoned.
This is a dynamic that must be reversed if we want to avoid the loss of another crop (in our collective memory is that of onions, legumes and potatoes). All present a trend of evident decline when not of inevitable disappearance.
Regarding the threat from abroad, note that the quantities imported by the Canary Islands have been the following:
-2019…… entered…….. 438,096 kilos of sweet potatoes
-2023…… “ …….. 1,210,073 “
-2024…..(until May)…. 728,863 “
These data yield two conclusions: 1st) in just four years the amount of imported sweet potatoes has tripled; and 2nd) at the rate that the entries of 2024 are going, surely at the end of it the figure of the year 2023 will be exceeded.
These data show how the imported sweet potato is gradually occupying the shelves of supermarkets to the detriment of ours, despite enjoying a recognized quality among consumers throughout the Canary Islands. Moreover, in the recent past it was even exported to England with notable success and in significant quantities.
To avoid its disappearance, we propose, among others, the following measures:
-It has to be executed "urgently" by the different administrations with competence over water the works demanded by the primary sector such as: the installation of the desalination plant of Tinajo, the layout of new irrigation networks, the fixing of a regular frequency in the supply of quality agricultural water. All this so that farmers can irrigate in conditions that allow them to bring their crops to fruition.
-The Sat El Jable has been demanding for years the execution of a plant sanitation plan that makes it possible to improve both the quality of the sweet potato and increase crop yields. Recently we have learned that the Cabildo of Lanzarote, together with the Ministry of Agriculture of the Government of the Canary Islands, has commissioned Cultesa a research project that contemplates the study and sanitation of the Cuban and egg yolk varieties.
-Promote commercialization through cooperatives and SATs, as these figures allow the farmer to plan harvests, reduce operating costs and have a greater negotiating capacity with distributors and supermarket chains. You only have to look at what happens in the other islands, where all the productions of bananas, tomatoes, tropical pineapple or avocado are sold jointly; to understand that this way of operating is the only one that allows the farmer to obtain a better remuneration for the sale of his harvest.
-From the side of the farmers there are also tasks to be executed: for example, develop agricultural practices that allow the conservation of the soils, excesses of irrigation should be avoided (since when the water supply allows it is sometimes abused) which worsens the final product, choose the plant well, rotate crops, practice fallow, make a good selection of the sweet potatoes that are offered to stores and supermarkets, and do not delay the harvests in the hope of getting a higher price, because in the end what is achieved are sweet potatoes of calibers that are not accepted by the market.
These actions should lead to maintaining a crop that has its contribution in the economy of some families. Just as it would help to diversify, even in a minimal proportion, the local economy and increase our level of food self-sufficiency.
