In 2017, Citrusvil led the way into the implementation of an information and control system of its harvest workforce, which meant a great breakthrough in terms of the way of working and ensuring compliance with labour standards in the outsourced activity in the lemon orchards.
By means of this implementation, we could strengthen compliance with the regulations in force and work on the prevention of child labour in the production chain.
As well as introducing the use of an electronic card, we developed and started to use an application which benefits the three parties involved in the harvesting process: contractors, harvest workers and our company.
The Electronic Card
The system improved the flow of information and its transparency and contributed to decreasing the access time to the orchard, thus speeding up the harvesting process.
Every harvest worker has a card with a chip containing their electronic file with their main personal information. When they get to the field, a company’s manager “reads” that information with an RFID system and uses a satellite signal to send it to an overseer. This improves and speeds up the flow of information.
The Process
The information generated by means of this system ensures us that it is stored in the system record, which enables us to verify the traceability of the data saved and gives us the possibility to consult them at any time.
“This new information process is in line with our Integrated Management System since it enables us to make various harvesting processes more efficient such as payments, logistics and productivity. The information obtained is crucial to make precise estimates about daily harvesting tasks”, said Pablo Ordoñez, Personnel Manager.
Benefits of the Harvesting Application
It enables us to:
- Automate administrative tasks.
- Upload the production of each worker quickly.
- View the amount of harvest every day.
- Verify traceability in all the harvesting process.
- Make logistics easier, enabling us to make a better estimate during harvesting.
- Know the daily attendance in real time.
Transparent System
Harvesting is an outsourced activity which is carried out by temporary workers with a high level of rotation. That is why a control process is crucial. It is essential to have this identity control system when entering the orchards, as well as random internal and external audits, in order to prevent frauds and child labour.
The electronic card system and the mobile phone application contribute to the transparency of the harvesting administrative management. In addition, the certifications obtained along the years on good agricultural practices in fields and harvest by Citrusvil ensure safe and registered work.
Certifications on Good Agricultural Practices
GLOBALG.A.P.: is an internationally recognized agricultural certification which sets forth standards and regulations for safe and sustainable agricultural production.
GLOBALG.A.P. – GRASP (Risk Assessment on Social Practices): This is a complement to assess workers’ well-being. It comprises four main topics on social responsibility: the voice of workers, information about human and labour rights, indicators of human and labour rights, and child protection.
GLOBALG.A.P. – FSA-SAI: The GLOBALG.A.P. complement, Farm Sustainability Assessment (GGFSA), is the result of an association between GLOBALG.A.P. and the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative Platform (SAI), which encourages producers to demand a high level of sustainability in their production. It assesses factors such as water management, the use of chemical products, biodiversity and other aspects related to agricultural sustainability