2023-04-28 10:07:06
The environmental organization SEO/BirdLIFE has demanded financial aid to the vineyard from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food that is “coherent” because the new facilities of the Government to avoid surpluses of wine in 2023 they perpetuate an “unsustainable model” of vineyards, since they favor and subsidize the increase in irrigated production, which depends on inputs, water and fertilizers.
They subsidize the irrigation of thousands of hectares of dry land
The head of the SEO/BirdLife Agriculture and Food Program, Tamara Rodríguez, has highlighted the “contradictions” of these policies that, on the one hand, subsidize the creation of more productive models and, on the other, do so by reducing production in those same crops.
Thus, they consider that these aids are not consistent with other Common Agricultural Policy subsidies but they enter into a “serious contradiction” with other European measures aimed at restructure the vineyardsince they imply an increase in productivity, such as the irrigation of thousands of hectares of dry land and the modernization of traditional vines towards intensive and trellis planting frames.
Precisely, the NGO criticizes that these measures are focused on increasing production in a surplus wine contextto later invest in public aid from the CAP to harvest green grapes (reduce production) and other measures such as crisis distillation, to reduce the amount of wine that reaches the market and avoid future commercial imbalances.
The irrigated vineyard has multiplied its water footprint by six in the last 20 years and reduced the suitable habitat for birds in these ecosystems by 60%
This refers to SEO/BirdLife to the aid from the Ministry of Agriculture whose term of application is open until April 30 and that they have an economic endowment of 15 million euros for the green harvest in wine-making vineyards. The objective is to reduce the tension in some producing regions with a high level of wine stocks and to avoid negative effects of an oversupply of grapes next autumn.
In addition, he points out that irrigated vineyards have multiplied their water footprint by six in the last 20 years and reduced the suitable habitat for birds in these ecosystems by 60%, as well as tripling the amount of CO2 per kilo of grapes by three. produced.
“In 20 years, only in Castilla-La Mancha, more than 160,000 hectares of dry vineyards were lost with subsidies from the PAC for the restructuring of the vineyard, adding more pressure on the overexploitation of aquifers“, he pointed out.
Use of other cultivation modalities
In this context, the NGO has expressed its commitment to the use of other cultivation modalities focused on “quality, sustainable, profitable” production for the farmer and beneficial for biodiversity.
Defend in the project Dry Living of the NGO, focused on dryland cereal and vine lands in the Iberian Peninsula, two crops at risk of disappearing due to their low profitability but with “great” potential for the conservation of biodiversity and bird life
Thus, it emphasizes the project Dry Living of the NGO, focused on dryland cereal and vine lands in the Iberian Peninsula, two crops at risk of disappearing due to their low profitability, but, according to SEO/BirdLife, with “great” potential for biodiversity conservation and the birdlife.
This project has carried out actions in Andalusia, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y León, Extremadura and Aragón in order to improve the adaptation and contribution of crops to the fight against climate change and restore biodiversity.
Some of the measures –such as plant covers, planting of woody species in unproductive margins or installation of nest boxes, among others– have already been implemented in the Project Life Living Olive Groves of this same organization, obtaining results both in the recovery of biodiversity and cost savings, without affecting production.
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