The cultivated area of pistachio trees in Spain is growing with nearly 70,000 hectares.

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

The pistachio tree is one of the woody trees with the highest growth in cultivated area.

Among the cultivated areas of non-citrus fruit trees, the almond and pistachio stand out, the latter having experienced exponential growth in cultivation area in recent years, going from 1,212 hectares. registered in 2010 at 66,466 ha. between rainfed and irrigated lands registered in 2022.

Castilla la Mancha leads the growth in cultivated pistachio area

The ESYRCE data confirm the leadership of Castilla la Mancha in this type of cultivation with more than 8 out of every 10 hectares cultivated in this community, which represents a total of 53,925 hectares. 81,13% of the total pistachio trees grown in Spain. New plantations under 5 years old are also concentrated in Castilla-La Mancha with 78% of the total.

Following at a distance are the communities of Andalusia with 5,070 hectares, Extremadura with 1,870 hectares, and Castilla y León with 1,646 hectares. or Madrid with 711 hectares. By provinces, It is worth highlighting the pistachio boom in Granada, which is confirmed as the province of Andalusia that dedicates the largest amount of agricultural land to the cultivation of pistachios, exceeding 839 hectares. registered in 2018 at around 3,000 hectares. current (according to estimated data from 2023).

As a whole, woody crops increased their surface area by 0.27%, highlighting the increase in non-citrus fruit trees, and within these, almond and pistachio, followed to a lesser extent by peach-nectarine and avocado.

About 22,000 hectares. of pistachios currently in production

According to the report, a 32% from the plantations would already be in the production phase, those with more than 5 years since their cultivation according to the Ministry's statistical criteria. This, taking into account an approximate yield of 628Kg/ha. of dryland crops, which doubles in the case of irrigated crops up to 1,348Kg/ha., according to data from pistachioPRO, represents a productive capacity of nearly 20,000 tons of pistachio, almost 15% of the annual consumption of this fruit in Europe estimated at about 150,000 tons.

The next 5 years will skyrocket the productive potential of pistachios in Spain

According to the provisional data for 2022 published by MAPA in the ESYRCE, almost all cultivated hectares will be in a situation of full productivity in 2028. This means, broadly speaking, that Spanish pistachio production expected to increase to 60,000 tons, assuming by then about 40% of the current consumption of pistachios in Europe.

Fourth world producer of pistachios in less than 10 years

On average, just over 5,000 hectares are planted each year. of pistachio trees in Spain since 2015, nearly 9,000 ha. If we take the data from the last 5 years, practically the same as in the US, the world leader in the cultivation of pistachio trees. Among many reasons: high profitability and increased consumption Worldwide.

It is estimated that In the next 10 years, Spain will become the fourth world producer of pistachio occupying the current position of Syria, only behind the United States, Iran and Turkey.

In this sense, it seems clear that The pistachio is consolidating to become a clear dynamic element of national agriculture, along with the almond tree and the olive grove.

Sources:

Survey on Crop Areas and Yields (ESYRCE). Framework Survey of Areas of Spain.

Survey on Crop Areas and Yields (ESYRCE): results from previous years

Newsletter for professional pistachios pistachioPRO

Large crops Interempresas.net