Building bridges between cereal producers and consumers in the Alavesa plains
- Extensive wheat and cereal fields are an important part of the landscape of the Alavesa plains. Contrary to what one might think, Arantza Arrien, a technician of the Lautada Rural Development Association, stresses that almost everything produced in it is destined to the outside. “60% of the cultivated land in the plains is cereal, but almost everything goes to the outside feed or beer factories. At the same time, the flour we consume here comes from outside.” The nonsense of the world today. In order to bring together local producers and consumers, the development association, three cereal producers, two small workshops and Neiker have launched the Lanirina project.
The Lanirina project has started with a producer who works in the ecological model and two others who are doing so, together with an ecological worker from Iurreta and Maeztu. “These cereal fields use abundant chemicals in general and the project aims to stimulate more sustainable production,” explains Arrien. Producers have placed the wheat varieties recommended by Neiker in cultivation fields of approximately two hectares and ground the wheat in a small stone mill. “Before we had in a pavilion here an open area to clean and pack beans and a little chick, because we have put the mill there,” explains the technician.
The first batch of flour has been distributed to the shops and hospitality of the Llanada, along with a survey of the variety of flour that has touched them, what they have done with it, how much they consume a year and what price they would pay for the organic flour produced in the Llanada. “The workers who are part of the project have made bread, muffins and pizzas with flour of the four varieties and we have organized tastings of them,” explains Arrien. In short, it is a question of checking the interest of local flours with these tests, to assess the prospects for the future.
Cereal courses
In the framework of the Lanirina project a number of courses have been organized relating to the flour industry. “The courses have worked on how to harvest in organic production, how to clean cereal, types of mills... and there has been a lot of participation.” On the other hand, they have collected all the production and processing data and hope to have them processed by September. “According to this, the next step will be to design a business model taking into account the data collected and available resources,” he announced. For example, the design of a model contract between producers and plants has been one of the works of the courses, agreeing a fair model for both parties. “This is a pilot project, but we expect producers to move forward with it. But for this it is important that all things be well studied,” he concludes.
