Horticina will hire 450 temporary to collect blueberries in Cerdido

The employment portal will open the 12 in June, a few days before the start of the campaign

En Horticina it smells like summer The fruit appears with joy in the plantation of blueberries of A Barqueira (Cerdido) and the pre-campaign is already under way. «Apparently, it will be an important year; The past was disastrous, the winter was bad, but this was not meteorological and it was unha boa colleita. To see the prezos are accompanied», Miguel Ángel Mato predicts. He is the manager of the company created in the 2002 together with his Swiss partner Alberto Amstutz to cultivate camellias, reconverted, as a result of the cyclone Klaus, that devastated the whole farm in the 2009, for the production of blueberries.

This summer, the firm will need between 450 and 480 farm laborers to harvest the 72 hectares of land they are already producing _the total area reaches 95_; the campaign will start between the 17 and the 24 in June and will last until the end of September or the first week of October. The job portal launched by the company _candidatos.horticina.net_ will open the 12 in June for the reception of job applications. There is no specific profile. «We seek xente with gambas de traballar», Summarizes Mato.

The labor department of Horticina, reinforced, will be responsible for local hiring, priority for economic reasons (no accommodation required) and social responsibility (commitment to the area). «Ao mellor chegamos a point not that we do not get xente from here, as we move moito, within our possibilities, to bring xente Galicia. We will have to work with some ETT [temporary employment agency] to hire persoal de fora», Says the manager.

New varieties

To the fixed staff, of some 25 people, other 50 employees were added in January and February, for the work of pruning; and in the last weeks several workers have been incorporated for the preparation of the collection. This campaign, with part of the farm at 80% yield and another at 20% (varies according to the year of planting, which has been progressive), foresees a production of 500 tons of blueberries. This figure will double, to reach one million kilos, within three years, «When everything works, it works», Says Mato. «A surface that we are planted [some 23 hectares] is modeling, but we still do not see clearly what varieties to plant, which market is moving and we have to see how it evolves on demand", Explain.

Consumption grows in Spain

Horticina lives a year of transformations. «We change of commercial, now we work with Surexport [Huelva]», He says. And if until now the 70% of the fruit was sold in the United Kingdom and northern Europe, most of the production of the 2019 will be marketed in Spain, through the large food chains. «Or national market is thriving because or consumption is increasing», Says Mato. This growth allows to distance the specter of Brexit and its possible impact on exports. Spain is the main European producer, competing with countries such as Chile, Peru, Argentina or Morocco.

«Or more difficult é atopar residedas para alugar»

The urban regulations prevent Horticina execute your initial project to build houses to house seasonal workers on the farm, because it is rustic land. «There is some progress, but vai moi slow», Recognizes the manager. If plan A has not yet been executed, B is also not easy.

"Or more difficult é atopar residedas para alugar, ainda that here you have abandoned houses and we are nós, non os temporeiros, os that imos facer responsible," Mato admits. He hopes to alleviate this problem through the stock exchange created in the Cerdido City Council and by renting houses in the neighboring municipalities of As Somozas and Ortigueira.

When they are older, they are now obliged to register the entrances and exits of the staff, for which they finalize an application. «We always meet the schedules, and as it becomes more», He maintains. The temporary workers will make 22 eight-hour monthly sessions.

FIGURES

72 hectares in production

23 hectares remain unplanted, waiting to see the varieties with the highest demand

1.000.000 kilos of production expected in 2022

Within three years, the entire current plantation will be at full capacity

450-480 contracts during the campaign

Harvesting will begin between the 17 and the 24 in June and will continue until the end of September.

Source
The voice of Galicia

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