The water footprint and virtual water exports of Spanish tomatoes

38 THE WATER FOOTPRINT OF TOMATO PRODUCTIONferent crop water uses. This factor was not taken into account,so the analysis of the temporal evolution of theprovinces could be improved. In any case, the scope of thisstudy is different as we intended to cover the whole countryand for a relatively long period.The apparent water productivity (€/m 3 ) varied significantlynot only between production systems, but also betweenperiods of the year. The productivities were significantlyhigher for greenhouse production and for early andlate season productions. These results are related since productionin early (January to May) and late (October to December)seasons are done mainly in greenhouses, whichcompensates the adverse climatic conditions of these periods.Along with this, these productions are to a high degreeintended for export markets and consumed in other countries(García, 2009) and therefore focus on a high-qualityvaluable product (Castilla, 2007). This way, Spanish waterresources are virtually exported away from the country inexchange for revenues.The differences in the apparent water productivity wouldprobably have been sharpened if we had distinguished theprices of the tomatoes for provinces and growing systems,specially separating production for fresh consumption fromproduction for the industry as the price of both products isvery different. Still, this is reflected to a certain degree inour work. In general terms, the production areas (and theprovinces) “specialise” themselves in specific productions foragronomical and socio-economical reasons.The analysis of the apparent water productivity in relationto the origin of water did show clearly that groundwateris more productive than surface one. This is alsoreflected in the type of production in which each of themis used. Surface water is predominantly used in areas