The Union of Extremadura, according to information from the National Strategic Plan to which he has had access through his draft, regrets that the Iberian pig sector is the only one that is going to be left without direct aid from the CAP.
The organization explains that the fruit and vegetable sectors and the vineyard area that was excluded in the reform that came into force on February 1, 2015 will be incorporated, so the only excluded sector will be the area dedicated to production Iberian pork.
«In Extremadura we have 13,068 farms dedicated to the production of Iberian pigs that exploit more than 1,470,000 head of cattle, mostly extensive. The area dedicated exclusively to this sector is around 370,000 hectares of pastureland, “they comment.
An economic loss of around € 44.4 million per year is calculated due to the exclusion of this sector from the aid
The extensive breeding and fattening of the Iberian pig is one of the most respectful activities with the environment, creating a circle of use of pasture, acorn, fertilization of the land and maintenance of the flora and fauna that have allowed after centuries of exploitation a perfect balance of the pasture.
This sector complies with all the parameters and objectives that are required in the new reform of the CAP, «but if the proposal of the Ministry of Agriculture continues and our Minister does not press it, we will be the region of Spain where there is the largest agricultural area without aid ».
The problem is that the administrations consider the entire pig sector under the same parameters of intensive production, so the Extremadura Ministry of Agriculture together with the Castilla y León and Andalusia Council should fight to remove the extensive Iberian pig from the group of intensive productions and thus be able to be recipients of these aid.
The Extremadura Union demands that the Minister under no circumstances allow the Iberian pig sector to be left out of aid in the next CAP reform that will begin to be negotiated next Wednesday, July 14 at the Ministry of Agriculture.
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