2023-11-01 07:30:16
Drought and water management and the effects on the agro-food sector were protagonists of a new edition of Agro Santander Forumorganized by Girona newspaper i Iberian Press, which brought together a hundred people at the Carlemany Hotel. During the event, it was also discussed the excessive bureaucracy that punishes the sector o of them difficulties of generational relief in farming.
“We’ve had years of rainfall well below average, which causes a lot of uncertainty. This year we saved the harvest, but we are very worried about next year’s campaign. Otherwise there are significant changes in rainfall and the swamps are not filled, we will suffer a lot”, he said Jaume Armengolpresident of the Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) Poma de Girona during the day’s round table. Along the same lines, Peter Rubirola, farmer and cattle breeder from Riudellots de la Selva, commented that “it must rain a lot, and well, because if a large flood of hundreds of liters of water falls in a short time, it is not used”. Rubirola warned that the the situation is alarming in the swamps, but also in the wells of the farms themselves, where “the water table is plummeting”. He added that the lack of rain, apart from putting many crops at risk, will also affect livestock that depends on this production.
Jacinth Pinsach, president of the demarcation of Girona del CCollege of Technical Agricultural and Forestry Engineers of Cataloniaexplained that many technicians have been working for a improve irrigation efficiency and optimize water consumption.
“New varieties adapted to climate change are being sought”
In this sense, Armengol pointed out that thanks to the program Giroregwhich promotes drip irrigation and soil moisture control through probes located at different depths, had achieved a 30% reduction in water consumption.
Likewise, he highlighted the work done by the IGP Poma de Girona and the technology center WRITTEN BY to develop its own variety of apple adapted to the territory and climate change. After years of work, there are already fields cultivated with the HOT84A1 variety, which has the commercial name of Everyone. “It is a juicy, sweet and crunchy apple, very adapted to our climatic conditions and which we believe has a long way to go,” said Armengol.
“Agri-food is a key sector for the Catalan economy”
Rubirola, gave the voice of experience at the Agro Santander Forum, and after decades of work in the field, detailed the enormous difficulties faced by professionals in the primary sector, and which make the generational transition difficult. “It’s an unattractive sector, due to the schedules, the dedication and sacrifice it entails, and the obstacles you find in the administration”explained.
In his opinion, in the future, every time there will be fewer family farms and the sector will increasingly be in the hands of large companies with a high volume of workers.
“Society must be more aware of the importance of the agricultural sector”
During the event, reference was also made to profitability problems of agricultural holdings for various reasons, such as climate change, Brexit, tariffs, changes in consumption habits, the increase in production costs, or new green demands.
One of the issues on which the speakers agreed was in the excess bureaucracy that small agribusinesses have to take on, and that they have hours left to devote to their main activity. Pinsach recalled that the technicians, who are between the farmer and the administration, are the ones who end up taking on a large part of this thankless task that does not usually provide added value. The bureaucracy “it steals our time, money and energy”, assured one of the speakers. Rubirola explained some recent case that affected his farm, the bureaucratic maze he ran into, and the lost hours he would have liked to devote to his fields and farm.
In this sense, he also regretted that part of this bureaucratic web it ends up being solved by the agricultural unions, who charge for a service that should be provided by the administration for free.
The speakers at the round table emphasized that the agri-food production in our country passes many food safety controls by the administration, but that this is not so strict with products that come from abroad.
Pinsach, Rubirola and Armengol agreed on the innovation and investment efforts that the primary sector had made in recent years, but that society was often not aware of. In this sense, they made one calls for the need to make society aware of consuming own and local products.
“Our primary sector is a guarantee of food safety”
“Society must decide if it wants an active primary sector, which takes care of the territory, which produces quality food (…) and it must know that to do this a volume of water and many hours of work are needed of farmers, ranchers and processing industry”, said Rubirola. In the same vein, the president of the IGP Poma de Girona, Jaume Armengol, recalled the importance of the final consumer knowing how to recognize their own products and being aware of the work behind it.
New digital platform
The person responsible for Santander’s Agribusiness in Catalonia, Santos Javier Pérez Pintrerecalled the bank’s commitment to the sector, with specific products such as Drought Loanand also the recent launch of the platform Avaniswith which “we want to promote a more digital, sustainable and profitable sector”. Avanis is a digital platform specific to the agricultural sectorthe first launched by a financial institution, which has a community to share experiences.
“Avanis promotes a more digital and profitable sector”
Likewise, the manager of Santander advanced, it has a marketplace, where suppliers can offer their services and where purchases can be made. “Avanis is the bank’s big bet to create a large community of field users”, Pérez Pintre will say.
At the end of the day, Carmel Modulegeneral secretary of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda of the Generalitat of Catalonia, he addressed some of the criticisms of the administration, especially those relating to the excess of bureaucracy. Modol explained that governments are only limited to “execute what the elected representatives in the parliaments of Catalonia, Spain or Europe”. However, he admitted that “every time there is a problem, a regulation or a law is made so that someone has a closed conscience, but maybe that problem could have been solved without the need for legislation”. “The regulations remain and affect the whole system”, he acknowledged.
On the other hand, Mòdol explained that “despite the peasant soul that Girona and much of the territory has, 85% of the population lives in urban areas, and is not sufficiently aware of the reality that the sector is experiencing. The Generalitat, he assured, wants Catalonia to maintain a high agri-food production because this “guarantees the population’s food supply if at any given moment conditions become complicated”. “In any circumstance, Catalan farmers and ranchers are the ones who ensure our future, but if we want them we have to take care of them,” he said.
The general secretary also pointed out that “the decision to buy food products influences the local and global economy (…) buying an apple from Girona or Lleida is not the same as buying an apple that has traveled a thousand kilometers” .
Campaign in schools
In this sense he agreed with the speakers of the round table on the childneed to have informed and aware consumers. This is one of the issues that appears in Catalonia’s strategic food plan, developed in 2019 and 2020 and which is already being implemented. In this framework, he announced a campaign with the Ministry of Education so that schoolchildren know the agri-food production of Catalonia. “We want young people to have the foundations to be conscious consumers”, concluded Mòdol.
More than 100 million in financing in Girona in the first half of the year
“Agri-food is a key sector for the Spanish, Catalan, Girona and Santander economies”. With these words Sonia Colomarregional director of Santander in Catalonia, expressed the bank’s commitment to the sector at the opening of the Agro Forum.
The board emphasized that Santander “has remodeled eleven of its offices in Catalonia to serve farmers and ranchers in a personalized way by means of a specialist dedicated exclusively to this sector.”
Also, Colomar detailed that Santander has financed the Spanish agri-food sector with 3 billion euros in the first nine months of the year, of which 460 million in Catalonia and more than 100 in the Girona regions.
The bank’s territorial director also highlighted the launch of«Avanis»a comprehensive digital platform to support the sector, “which accelerates the interconnection of the entire value chain of the agri-food sector”.
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