Spanish Agriculture, Livestock, and Fishing Overview

Spanish Agriculture, Livestock, and Fishing

Labor productivity can be categorized as follows:

• High-productivity agriculture: Characterized by a high output volume relative to the labor input.
• Low-productivity agriculture: Requires a significant amount of labor.

Combining these factors, we can define four types of agricultural landscapes:

• High-productivity intensive agriculture: Results from substantial investments in mechanization and technology, achieving high yields with minimal labor.
• Low-intensive agriculture: Involves low capital investment and high labor input.
• Extensive low-productivity agriculture: Typical of countries with advanced machinery and a small workforce.
• Extensive farming of low productivity: Employs rudimentary techniques and limited resources, resulting in scarce yields that may not even sustain the farmers.

Food Resources in Spain

Currently, two types of agricultural landscapes can be observed in Spain:

• Fruit and vegetable farming, which is intensive and based on irrigation. In Andalusia, the most important intensive crops are industrial crops and vegetables.
• Traditional agriculture, which is rainfed and extensive, growing local products within the Mediterranean trilogy. Andalusia is a significant example of traditional Mediterranean agriculture, with cereal crops occupying large expanses, olive groves primarily in less flat areas, and vineyards in smaller areas.

Livestock

Different types of livestock include:

• Cattle breeding (meat production) concentrated on the Cantabrian coast.
• Sheep farming (meat and wool production).
• Pig farming (meat products and derivatives).
• Poultry farming (meat and eggs).

The most important herds are sheep and goats, followed by swine and, to a lesser extent, cattle.

Fishing

Spain is a leading European Union country in the number of ships and the third in the number of catches. Currently, Spain is undergoing a transformation of its fishing sector, reducing the number of boats and workers. In Andalusia, the economic importance of fishing is not very significant compared to other activities.