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Our preserved fruit company has become pioneer in saving irrigation water in our region of Aragón (northeastern Spain), due to an investment program set up some years ago in our plantations of fruit trees. Lazaya firmly believes in sustainable agriculture and responsible water use. We are going to make every effort to mantain this strong commitment in Calatayud and its surrounding lands which we feel so attacched to. Besides being fruit preserves manufacturers, we are also fruit growers.
How have we paved the way for these achievementes in the reduction of irrigation water consumption? Lazaya grows its own fruit trees, especially cherry trees. This is one of our distinguishing features amongst our competitors. We want to control and take care of preserved fruit from growing in our own platations to its final handling and packing, in order to achieve the highest levels of quality in our products. Some comprehensive solutions have been implemented along the last few years. Major adaptations have been developed to improve efficiency in water consumption in our plantations. And we will go on playing an active role in the development of a sustainable water policy in the future.
Family-owned preserved fruit company commited to sustainable agriculture
These are the main developments concerning the irrigation water of Lazaya’s plantations we have made:
- An on-site weather station. It has been settled with the aim of measuring the transpiration of the leaves of the fruit trees in our plantations. This allows us to set a watering plan to suit the minimal watering requirements of the fruit trees.
- A water basin to store rainwater, as a way to reduce the expenses in pumping water. If it rains (which is not as usual as it should be in Spain), huge water savings can be made.
- Drip irrigation in all our plantations. It is the irrigation system with the best efficiency in water consumption at the lowest cost. It has been demonstrated that drip irrigation systems (as those we implanted some years ago in Lazaya’s plantations) result in water savings of 30 per cent. It is a significant figure that we hope to continue improving in the next few years.
As a matter of fact, we are settling new plans to reduce the water consumption in the company-owned plantations that provide our facilities with preserved fruit.
New Lazaya’s investments to improve the use of water in terms of sustainable agriculture
These are the main steps we will take in the next few years regarding the use of water:
- Implementation of underground watering in our plantations of fruit trees. We plan to implement a system of underground watering in 8 hectareas in 2018. This would be just the begining of an ambitious plan, over a period of some years, to extend the measure to all our 130 hectares of land devoted to provide our preserved fruit company (always concerned about the production control of preserved fruit) with the best fresh fruit.
With the implantation of this system, we will take a step forward in sustainable agriculture: besides significant savings in water consumption, the implementation of this irrigation system reduces remarkably the use of herbicides, as it avoids the weed growth on the surface of land.
In short, Lazaya seeks quality to produce its preserved fruit in the whole process. If we have been pioneers in technological innovations, implantation of strict quality controls of preserved fruit and achievement of the most prestigious international food safety and hygiene certificates, we also want to be frontrunners in moving towards sustainable agriculture. It is Lazaya’s business policy of preserved fruit.
As a preserved fruit company concerned about the land where we were born, we are proud to join in the forward line to reduce water use in agriculture in the region through intelligent irrigation systems.
