Agric. Econ.

– Czech, 64, 2018 (8): 367–377 Original Paper

https://doi.org/10.17221/318/2016-AGRICECON

Intensive agriculture, marketing and social structure:

the case of south-eastern Spain
Gonzalo HERRANZ DE RAFAEL, Juan Sebastian FERNANDEZ-PRADOS*

University of Almería, CEMyRI, Almería, Spain

*Corresponding author: jsprados@ual.es

Herranz de Rafael G., Fernandez-Prados J.S. (2018): Intensive agriculture, marketing and social structure: the case
of south-eastern Spain. Agric. Econ – Czech, 64: 367–377.

Abstract: The main purpose of this study was to analyse the opinions of farmers in the province of Almería con-
cerning the state of the fruit and vegetable sector, to learn about the main considerations in their decision-making
processes when marketing their products and their assessment of the image of companies and cooperatives and to ana-
lyse the social structure of this collective. To that end, the analysis was conducted on three levels: a descriptive analysis
on two levels – a quantitative analysis of the socio-demographic, socio-economic and marketing characteristics of far-
mers in the province of Almería and a qualitative analysis based on the opinions of farmers and a group of experts in the
sector; and an explanatory analysis, based on a binary logistic regression model, to show how decision-making occurs
in the marketing dialectic, whether it either be at the source (auction) or the end-point (cooperative). The conclusion is that
the marketing variables that are most tied to context – such as price, timeframe or certification – better explain the deci-
sion-making process of farmers in the province of Almería when marketing their products, both for cooperative members
and for those who sell their products in alhóndigas (traditional auction houses).

Keywords: Almería, auction, cooperatives, farmers, retail distribution

Traditionally, studies in the field of agriculture have
centred on results, soil, output (kg/ha), production,
price, the value of different agricultural products
(MAAMA 2014) and perhaps production structure and
organisation, logistics and marketing. The opinions
of farmers have rarely been consulted or analysed
(Agrolanzarote 2011) although these are decisive
for decision-making in a market that is increasingly
more global and competitive in the European context.
Consideration of all of these variables will undoubt-
edly enrich research, and this is the purpose of the
current study.
The general objective of this study consists of ana-
lysing the opinions of self-employed farmers in the
province of Almería concerning the state of the fruit
and vegetable sector to learn the reasons behind their
decisions when marketing their products, to ascer-
tain the assessments of the image of the agricultural
companies and cooperatives in Almería and to analyse
the social structure of this collective.
There is a long history of intensive greenhouse-
based agriculture in the area commonly known as
El Campo de Dalías, which covers different mu-
nicipalities including Roquetas de Mar and El Ejido
as two of the main ones. It was in this region that
the technique known as sanding (enarenado) was
begun in 1955. The then-named National Institute
of Colonisation (created in 1941) began to promote
this technique. By 1959, 300 hectares of land had
already been covered in sand. On the other hand,
the parral-style greenhouse was introduced into
this area in 1963 (Checa 2004; Checa et al. 2007).
The incorporation of these innovations has had a
massive impact on farms, substantially improving
their output to the point that the average produc-
tion per hectare has more than doubled, going from
slightly more than 25 tons in 1975 to over 59 tons
in 2010 (Sánchez-Picón et al. 2011). In addition to
this increase in output, there has been an improve-
ment in quality, an expansion of the production
calendars, and the procurement of two, and even
three, harvests per year; as a result, the term ‘forced
crops’ began to be used. Throughout these years,
research and development centres have emerged all
around the province, focusing their activities on the
resolution of the needs of the sector and favouring

367
Agric. Econ. – Czech, 64, 2018 (8): 367–377 Original Paper

https://doi.org/10.17221/318/2016-AGRICECON

of the farmers towards the marketing companies. development: the case of family farms in southeast Spain.
Similarly, we can observe a high degree of loyalty Sustainability Science, 11: 349–362.
towards the type of selected marketing scheme Gómez-Limón J.A., Vera-Toscano E., Garrido-Fernández
(auction/cooperative), with very little movement F.E. (2013): Farmers’ contribution to agricultural social
of farmers between the two sales models. capital: evidence from southern Spain. Rural Sociology,
– Based on the quantitative analysis of the survey that 79: 380–410.
was conducted using a logistic regression model, MAAMA (2014): Anuario de estadística Ministerio de Ag-
we conclude that the significant variables that best ricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente. Secretaria
explain the selection between cooperatives and General Técnica, Madrid.
corporations are mainly those that are linked to Observatorio socioeconómico del cooperativismo agro-
the marketing context, such as ‘price’, followed by alimentario de España (OSCAE) (2014): Macromag-
‘timeframe’, number of ‘certifications’, ‘proximity’ nitudes del cooperatvismo agroalimentario español.
and, finally, ‘education’. In this manner, on the one Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Am-
hand, less importance is given to price, timeframe biente, Madrid.
and proximity and, on the other hand, a greater Ortiz-Miranda D., Moragues-Faus A., Arnalte-Alegre E.
number of certifications and the more frequent use (2013): Agriculture in Mediterranean Europe: Chal-
of new technologies predict a tendency to select lenging theory and policy. In: Ortiz-Miranda D., Mor-
a cooperative. agues-Faus A., Arnalte-Alegre E. (eds): Agriculture in
Mediterranean Europe: Between Old and New Para-
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