The poplar crop has been the protagonist of one of the four days of the course on “New crops and alternative crops” promoted by the Escuela Familiar Agraria (EFA) El Soto located in Chauchina. The Escuela Familiar Agraria (EFA) “El Soto” is a vocational training center whose mission is to achieve the development of the rural environment.

Victoria Carreras and Alberto De la Torre, President and Secretary of Agrupación Marjal, presented the papers “Poplar. Tradition and Innovation” and ”Poplar and Economy. Populiculture and Uses of Poplar in the Market”, respectively. They presented the past, present and future of poplar promoted by the LIFE Wood for Future project. Patricia Gómez, manager of COSE, partner of the LIFE Wood for Future Project, was present at the meeting, presenting to the students the wide ecosystem benefits of poplar in the global context of their territory, to which they silently contribute to the benefit of society and the planet.

The poplar crop, the only one that has survived in the Vega of Granada in the last 150 years, has managed to coexist in the form of a mosaic with other crops that have already disappeared such as sugar beet and tobacco, which were a reflection of an industrial Granada and spearhead in Spain, and continues to coexist with other crops that emerged later such as asparagus, corn and garlic, or currently the super-intensive cultivation of olive groves.

During the course, other crops that are really emerging in the Granada area, such as prickly pears and aromatic plants, were the protagonists of the rest of the conference, which concluded with an exhibition of the products.