Income distribution of protected-crop farms in Andalusia

During 2001-2002, a new macro-survey was carried out in the Andalusian agrarian sector to update the AGROS system -a Decision Support System designed for the Andalusian Regional Government-. In the new context of freer trade in the world markets for horticultural products, it is interesting to know and compare the income distribution of different Andalusian productive strategies where protected crops are dominant. Income distribution of horticultural farms can be used to check farm financial stability. The focus of this paper was on the differences observed in the income distributions in four specific Andalusian regions. Semi-permanent and permanent plastic greenhouses specialised in horticultural products are compared to plastic tunnels for the protection of young plants and then to force open-air production (strawberries). The income range for protected crop farms in Andalusia is very wide. Depending on the Andalusian region and its productive strategy, the shape of the income distribution curve can be very different. For example, in the most traditional protected-crop zones -Almeria and Granada-, the peak of the income distribution curve is near zero. This unstable situation means that the productive structure can only pay for family migrant labor which makes it very difficult to obtain net profits.