The Baells reservoir (Catalonia), which is at 25.8% of its capacity this Tuesday Siu Wu (EFE)
The Ministry of Agriculture will ask the European Commission for exceptional measures to make the rules of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) more flexible, on which European aid to farmers and ranchers depends, due to the effects of the prolonged drought, most of Spain. This is the ministry’s most important announcement this Wednesday after the first meeting in a year of the drought roundtable, where the government, municipalities and farmer associations analyzed the situation due to the lack of rain. Catalonia, one of the hardest-hit regions, has urged the executive to approve a drought decree that includes direct aid and tax benefits for the primary sector as soon as possible, a demand shared by farming organizations. For its part, Luis Planas’ department has stated that it is preparing “a new package of measures to support the sector”.
Planas will send a letter to Brussels to propose flexible or exceptional measures in the application of CAP rules so that farmers and ranchers do not see their access to subsidies in jeopardy. For example, to qualify for these European aids, you must have declared acreage, a production plan and other requirements that are difficult to meet in the circumstances. Although it remains to be seen what the outcome of this will be, the industry is also calling for a reduction in environmental regulations on issues such as crop rotation or land abandonment. In the meantime, the Spanish Agricultural Guarantee Fund (FEGA) will convene a meeting with the municipalities to decide on further support measures.
These measures have had little effect in the regions most affected by water shortages. At the end of the meeting, the Climate Change Minister of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Teresa Jordá, asked the government to adopt as soon as possible a decree providing for direct aid and tax benefits for farmers and ranchers, as well as measures to modernize irrigation systems . Jordá has stressed that the government has not proposed “any concrete measures” and that at this meeting it is essentially “listening” to the parties affected by a situation that is particularly “obvious” in the inland basins of Catalonia, such as in the Segura, Guadiana and Guadalquivir, which have the “red light” of drought.
In the meantime, the PP of Andalusia, through its Environment Minister Ramón Fernández Pacheco, has called for a national pact against the drought. “Such a sensitive issue requires a national pact because it affects us all and requires greater participation,” explained Pacheco from Vejer de la Frontera. In any case, the supply of water for urban consumption is guaranteed for more than a year and a half, as explained by the President of the Junta de Andalucía, Juanma Moreno, who excludes restrictions in tourist areas.
For its part, the ministry emphasizes that a permanent channel of communication will be established as long as the lack of rain, which is “serious and widespread”, although it highlights important differences in the area. In this sense, the effects on the Guadalquivir, Guadiana and inland Catalonia basins stand out. The mean of the accumulated precipitation since the beginning of the hydrological year (October 1, 2022) is 23.5% below normal. The situation does not seem to change any time soon: the State Meteorological Agency reported this Wednesday that this month is on track to become the driest April in 70 years and there are places like Teruel or La Mancha where no rain has fallen for three months.
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The agricultural organizations Asaja, COAG and UPA present at the meeting called on both the government and the autonomies to allow “urgent” measures of an economic and legislative nature to alleviate the effects of the severe drought in the primary sector, believing that “since no Room for further analysis” but to take action. Asaja President Pedro Barato has insisted that the situation “does not lend itself to diagnosis” and regretted that Minister Luis Planas did not attend the meeting, saying it was an “urgent issue”.
At this time of year grain production is considered lost in the southern half of the peninsula, as well as in the southernmost countries of Castilla y León, parts of Aragon and Catalonia. In addition, the production of trees and shrubs, from olive groves to fruit trees, as well as in the orchards of the Mediterranean coast, will be reduced. The drought will force alternative crops, such as sunflowers, to be planted in the hardest-hit areas. The lack of water in the reservoirs is having an impact on beet and corn.
As for livestock, the problems are concentrated in extensive herds from the Cantabrian coast, where the meadows have dried up, to the central and southern countries, where the lack of grazing land forces the use of grain at high prices, and in the Iberian pig of Dehesa.
300 million in help
So far, the main action of the ministry has been the distribution of 300 million euros to around 250,000 farmers due to the increase in the price of fertilizers of 20.82 euros per hectare in dryland and arid areas, 52.06 euros if it is irrigated land. The measures examined include the granting of low-interest loans and guarantees, each with a subsidy from the ministry.
In the fourth quarter of 2022, the debt of the agricultural sector increased to 21,586 million euros, which is 77% of agricultural income. The sector calls for a reduction in tax rates when filing income tax returns or when changing VAT, both in relation to the amount paid for the purchase of the means of production and in relation to the amount received for the sale of the products of the field. In addition, funds have been set up in recent years to support the large herd in their nutritional needs due to lack of grazing.
The drought table last met on March 4, 2022 and was used for the later adoption of a legislative decree with measures to support the agricultural sector in the areas of taxes, labour, finance and hydraulic engineering, in which six ministries were involved.
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