José María Daroca chaired his first Control Board Plenary Meeting, held on 17 July, taking office on behalf of the Rioja cooperative associations, after the Order of the Ministry of Agriculture ratifying the appointment was published in the Official Gazette on 11 July. José María Daroca takes over from Luis Alberto Lecea following the agreement reached in May 2013 for the renewal of the interprofessional association. According to the agreement, the agricultural union ARAG-ASAJA was to hold the presidency for two years and then pass it on to the cooperatives for the next two.
José María Daroca is a grape grower like his predecessor. He is a member of the Navarrete District Cooperative —part of the Federación de Cooperativas Agrarias de La Rioja (FECOAR), which he represents on the Control Board Plenary since 2004. Born in 1956 in the town of Entrena, where he resides and works his 25 hectare holding, Daroca has been member of the Board of Directors of the cooperative since its foundation in 1989, serving in various positions, including president and secretary, a post he currently holds. He also chairs the district Irrigation Community.
