The Vega Baja Artichoke Begins Its Campaign with 200 More Hectares of Cultivation than Last Year

The Vega Baja artichoke, one of the flagship crops of the region, has commenced its campaign with significant growth in its cultivated area. According to the Vega Baja del Segura artichoke brand, 200 more hectares have been planted in 2025/26 compared to the previous year, marking a 10% increase.

This growth reflects the positive momentum of this winter vegetable. In fact, according to the brand's president, Antonio Angel Hurtado, over the past ten years, "more than a thousand hectares have been added, increasing from 1,562 hectares recorded in the Vega Baja del Segura in 2015 to 2,500 hectares in the 2025/2026 campaign."

Hurtado highlighted this increase, stating it "speaks of a profitable crop and the collective effort made to position the jewel of the orchard where it deserves to be." He expressed this during the inauguration of the artichoke season with a symbolic cut in Daya Nueva, led by Antonio Galindo, who has been president of the Artichoke Association of Spain for over a decade.

The event was attended by the President of the Alicante Provincial Council, Toni Pérez, and the Director General of Water and Rural Development of the Ministry of Agriculture, Sabina Goretti, along with numerous institutional representatives and socio-economic stakeholders from the region.

Pérez described the artichoke as "something that gives us identity as a province" and praised the daily work of the Vega Baja farmers. For her part, Goretti argued that this vegetable "is the image of our land, it is landscape, it is culture, and it is gastronomy."

With a campaign covering more land, the region is solidifying its position as the main production area in the Community and the second in Spain, only behind Murcia. Together with this community, they export almost 50% of the national artichokes destined for abroad. Among the main destinations are France, Italy, the United Kingdom, and areas of Central Europe, in addition to a strong global presence through preserves.

The campaign generates around 5,000 direct jobs in the Vega Baja, with an additional 1,000 positions in the canning industry and between 1,000 and 1,500 indirect jobs, reinforcing the strategic role of the crop in the socio-economic fabric of the territory.