Why do some aloes suffer pests, while others do not?

Throughout these years farming organic aloe vera, we have had many talks and dialogues with other aloe farmers in Spain. One of them, whom we met at the DEMETER stand in Biofach (Nuremberg) a few years ago, told us that his plantation died in a matter of a month, devastated by rural rodents that eat the trunk of the plant, killing it from the roots. Some other unlucky farmers tell us they’ve suffered all kinds of plagues: cochineal, snails, rabbits, etc., causing serious damage to the leaves and to the plantation itself.

Well, it strikes us that after almost 5 years of farming our organic aloe vera, we have not had any problem with pests. In fact, we have not done any pest treatment yet! - we touch wood. And why is that? Why are some farms so affected by pests and not the others?

The answer is quite simple: it is due to the natural space where our aloe is grown. Our farm is located in a protected natural area (Natura 2000 Network), where there is great biodiversity. It is a space of purity, virgin and free of contamination. Each species have its own predator, creating an equilibrium along the trophic chain – pests arise when these predators do not exist, often due to human intervention (ex.: use of pesticides). Any aloe vera farm – even if it is organic – depends a lot on the practices carried on the environment that surrounds it. If it is immersed in the middle of conventional agriculture it will suffer its consequences, destroying the biological balance of such environment.

The balance of the existing trophic chain in natural biotopes coupled with good agricultural practices is the greatest asset of an organic farming operation: it avoids pests and any necessary treatment to control them – even if they are ecological, it is better to avoid them.

The great biodiversity existing in our farm gives us a higher benefit: we produce the healthiest, purer and most natural organic aloe vera. If we all preserve the natural environment that surrounds us, we will not need to touch wood when thinking about pests.

In this blog we want to share with you that a healthy biological diversity is fundamental for ecological stability.