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La Voz de Andalucía

Seville Rice with Almerian Mark: 14 Million Kilos for Ebro Foods

The Aguas del Almanzora company resumes rice production in Seville after a decade, utilizing 1,600 hectares in the marshes.

Generic image of a rice field in Andalusia under the sun.
IA

Generic image of a rice field in Andalusia under the sun.

The Almerian company Aguas del Almanzora, comprising 17 irrigation communities, has restarted rice cultivation on 1,600 hectares of the Sevillian marshes, anticipating a production of 14 million kilos to be marketed to the multinational Ebro Foods.

After nearly a decade, the rice fields of Seville will once again bear the mark of Almería. Aguas del Almanzora, an entity representing 17 irrigation communities and 10,000 irrigators from the Almerian basin, will use its 1,600 hectares in the marshes to cultivate rice. An estimated production of 14 million kilos is expected, which will be sold to Ebro Foods, one of the leaders in the rice sector.
In recent years, marked by water scarcity, irrigators from Almanzora had diverted water from the Guadalquivir Basin, corresponding to their Sevillian lands, to the fields of the Almerian Levante, exercising their transmission rights. However, the recovery of the Negratín reservoir due to abundant rainfall in the hydrological year has allowed Aguas del Almanzora to resume rice production in Seville, which will help them address the debt incurred for the acquisition of these lands.
More than ten years ago, Aguas del Almanzora invested 40 million euros to acquire these lands from the Hernández Barrera family, founders of the rice company Herba, among others. This purchase automatically secured them 15 cubic hectometers in water rights. The company's primary goal has always been to cultivate rice when there is sufficient water in its own basin, a condition that has been met since this spring.
Spain is the leading rice producer in the European Union, with Andalusia as the top autonomous community and Seville as the leading Spanish province. The area cultivated by Almerian farmers in the Sevillian marshes represents 5% of the total rice fields in the region.
Representatives from Aguas del Almanzora will attend today's Guadalquivir Reservoir Release Commission in Seville. Their objective is to secure another 5 cubic hectometers from the Negratín Transfer to reach the 50 hectometers allocated by law. In the specific commission for the transfer, held in late February at the Ministry, 45 hectometers had already been secured, as the Negratín, in the Baza region, had accumulated the necessary flow to reactivate the transfer to Almanzora.
Of the 50 hectometers allocated, 47 will be for irrigation and 7 for supplying towns in the Levante and Almanzora until December 2026. The flow began arriving in March, ending five years of water restrictions from the Negratín. The Junta de Andalucía, through the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, requested the convening of the transfer management commission on February 9, considering that the technical conditions for water delivery were met.
The often-thirsty fields of Almanzora are smiling again. Matías Gómez Cervellera, an active irrigator from SAT Los Guiraos de Cuevas del Almanzora, commented: “Everything is cyclical.” In addition to the 50 hectometers from the Negratín, the region has recovered the Tajo Transfer, which, although smaller, provides an additional 6 hectometers until June. This is complemented by rights in the Torrevieja desalination plant, as compensation for the Tajo flow, and the prospect of obtaining water from the Bajo Almanzora I Desalination Plant by the end of this year. These resources will primarily benefit green leafy crops such as lettuce and broccoli, and now also open-air melon and watermelon.

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