[Spain] Plea for EU crisis funds as drought impacts farmers

Spain’s Agriculture Minister Luis Planas announced that the country has made a request for emergency funds from the European Union to support farmers and ranchers amid extreme drought conditions in its agricultural heartlands, WOKV reports.

On April 24, the minister wrote to the European Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski to plea for aid for Spain's 890,000 farm workers, including from the bloc's agricultural crisis reserve and unused rural development funds, he said.

Mr Planas said, “There is drought, there are high temperatures, but they are much more accentuated in the case of the Iberian Peninsula.” He went on to describe the release of urgent financial assistance as of “the utmost importance.”

In 2022, Spain reportedly received 64.5 million euros from the EU Common Agricultural Policy's crisis reserve to cope with the increased cost of raw materials linked to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. However, five consecutive years of drought in some regions have worsened an already challenging situation.

Twenty-seven per cent of Spanish territory is currently classified as in drought "emergency" or "alert" - according to the Ecological Transition Ministry - and water reserves are at 50 per cent of capacity nationally. 

The situation is far worse in Spain's most important agricultural region, Andalusia. The Guadalquivir River basin is reportedly at 24.8 per cent of its capacity and farmers in the region have had their water allowance for irrigation cut by up to 90 per cent, in some cases.

Spain is the world’s biggest exporter of olive oil and an important producer of fruits and vegetables. The drought has already driven up Spanish olive oil prices to record levels.

The agriculture minister said he had also asked the EU to provide a higher advance payment ahead of the next season. He urged “flexibility” in meeting the strict requirements of the bloc's agricultural policy. In addition, the government announced a 1.8-billion-euro tax cut for affected farmers.

2022 was Spain’s sixth driest year; the hottest since records began in 1961. Some farmers will reportedly not sow seeds at all for some crops this year, aware that the plants will simply shrivel in the fields. Eduardo Vera Canuto, a rice farmer in Isla Mayor, in southern Seville province, said the situation was “alarming.”

“We are not going to be able to sow rice. We have had five seasons, and this would be the sixth, with many difficulties. Last year we only sowed 30 per cent of the land, because of the water we are entitled to," he said.

Source: WOKV

(Link and quotes via original reporting)

Spain’s Agriculture Minister Luis Planas announced that the country has made a request for emergency funds from the European Union to support farmers and ranchers amid extreme drought conditions in its agricultural heartlands, WOKV reports.

On April 24, the minister wrote to the European Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski to plea for aid for Spain's 890,000 farm workers, including from the bloc's agricultural crisis reserve and unused rural development funds, he said.

Mr Planas said, “There is drought, there are high temperatures, but they are much more accentuated in the case of the Iberian Peninsula.” He went on to describe the release of urgent financial assistance as of “the utmost importance.”

In 2022, Spain reportedly received 64.5 million euros from the EU Common Agricultural Policy's crisis reserve to cope with the increased cost of raw materials linked to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. However, five consecutive years of drought in some regions have worsened an already challenging situation.

Twenty-seven per cent of Spanish territory is currently classified as in drought "emergency" or "alert" - according to the Ecological Transition Ministry - and water reserves are at 50 per cent of capacity nationally. 

The situation is far worse in Spain's most important agricultural region, Andalusia. The Guadalquivir River basin is reportedly at 24.8 per cent of its capacity and farmers in the region have had their water allowance for irrigation cut by up to 90 per cent, in some cases.

Spain is the world’s biggest exporter of olive oil and an important producer of fruits and vegetables. The drought has already driven up Spanish olive oil prices to record levels.

The agriculture minister said he had also asked the EU to provide a higher advance payment ahead of the next season. He urged “flexibility” in meeting the strict requirements of the bloc's agricultural policy. In addition, the government announced a 1.8-billion-euro tax cut for affected farmers.

2022 was Spain’s sixth driest year; the hottest since records began in 1961. Some farmers will reportedly not sow seeds at all for some crops this year, aware that the plants will simply shrivel in the fields. Eduardo Vera Canuto, a rice farmer in Isla Mayor, in southern Seville province, said the situation was “alarming.”

“We are not going to be able to sow rice. We have had five seasons, and this would be the sixth, with many difficulties. Last year we only sowed 30 per cent of the land, because of the water we are entitled to," he said.

Source: WOKV

(Link and quotes via original reporting)