The DOP pears of Rincón de Soto expands the geographic area protected 23 La Rioja municipalities

The geographical area delimited for the appellation of origin protected pears of Rincón de Soto will comprise a total of 27 La Rioja municipalities, against the four who protected launched production of the mark of quality since its inception in 2002. On June 25, the official newsletter of La Rioja published a resolution of the Directorate General of quality from the Department of agriculture, livestock and Rural development that gave the go-ahead to the request for modification of the specification from the Association of promotion of the PEAR of Rincón de Soto to enlarge the area of production to other 23 La Rioja localities.

So far, the denomination was PEAR production in the towns of Rincón de Soto, Aldeanueva of Ebro, Alfaro, and Calahorra. After the amendment of the specification of the PDO, expands the geographical area bounded to eight municipalities in La Rioja high and one in La Rioja low. For its part, the Minister of agriculture, livestock and Rural Development, Iñigo Nagore, has expressed his satisfaction because this extension of the geographical area is the best proof of the proper functioning of the Rioja brand, already consolidated in the market.   For this reason, Nagore encouraged producers dedicated to the cultivation of the peral to register to ensure the best marketing of a product backed by demanding quality controls. Also, the Minister of agriculture, livestock and Rural Development signed, together with the President of the Association for the promotion of the PEAR of Rincón de Soto, signed an agreement whereby the regional government will contribute 62.300 EUR of aid to the running costs and operation resulting from research activitiestechnical assistance, dissemination and marketing of the PDO 'Pears of Rincón de Soto' to develop throughout the year 2010. Financial support from the Department of agriculture governed by this Convention is intended to finance the activities of technical assistance to registered producers, promoting the quality and promotion on the market of the PEAR.

On the other hand, the Government of La Rioja will also support the DOP pears of Rincón de Soto, for the third consecutive year, in the sponsorship of a stage of the Vuelta to Spain as a platform to promote the qualities and properties of this La Rioja product. On September 10, the race will come from Rincón de Soto and will cross La Rioja to Burgos.

Under the brand name pears of Rincón de Soto worked 260 growers and seven Central recorded in the 2009 campaign in 501 hectares registered in the DOP, with a total production, including blanquilla varieties and Conference of more than 7.2 million kilograms.