Spanish Water Stewardship Case Study with Rio Cinca
As part of Worldwide Fruit’s Water Stewardship programme, Blue North is writing up a number of case studies on Worldwide Fruit’s key growers and where they are in terms of water stewardship in their main catchments. The aim of these case studies is to raise awareness on water challenges, but also to showcase sustainability strategies that growers around the world are implementing.
This is the first Spanish Water Stewardship case study we have written and represents Rio Cinca, who supplies Worldwide Fruit with stone fruit.
Rio Cinca is based in northern Spain in the region of Catalunya and Aragón and is a family-owned business that has a wealth of knowledge and experience in the agricultural industry. The entrepreneurial character of Manuel Raventós Espona and his extensive experience in agriculture is at the foundation of what Rio Cinca is today. He bought the main family farm in 1952. In 1987, his son, Manuel Raventós Raventós, the current CEO of Rio Cinca, joined the business. Over the years he implemented new production systems and integrated innovative new technologies for the classification and commercialisation of fruit. Today, Rio Cinca consists of nine properties totalling over 2 000 ha, producing 15 000 tons of different varieties of fruit. Cherries and stone fruit comprise the main share of fruit production. As part of their sustainability drive, Rio Cinca has been adopting agricultural practices that improve soil health, reduce runoff losses, and increase infiltration and storage of water in the soil, for example, they make use of cover crops and composting. All their orchards are drip irrigated and they use humidity probes to measure soil moisture, which allow them to irrigate according to the needs of the soil. Rio Cinca is committed to the land, nature, and improving the environment around them. They have a land stewardship agreement with the conservation organisation SEO/BirdLife, as well as the TRENCA association, in order to protect nature and promote conservation of all types of birds. Even though the Catalunya and Aragón region in northern Spain is not as susceptible to climate change as the southern and western parts of Spain, Rio Cinca is still concerned about the effects of climate change on the future growth and sustainability of their business. The hope is that the interventions they have put in place will be enough to buffer them against the worst effects of climate change.
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