The Federation of the Alentejo Farmers' Associations (Faabu) denounces in a statement, the incompetence of the Ministry of Agriculture attested by the loss of 35% in the amounts to be paid to farmers under the Ecoregimes of Organic Agriculture and 25% in Integrated Production.
These are very large losses of income that are added to the delays in payments of community aid, motivated by the great disorganization in which the application period took place, as well as the insignificant and ridiculous aid attributed to the prolonged drought (our Spanish colleagues received 3 times more) and other well-known constraints. These are blows that kill many farmers and are associated with the ostensible distancing policy that this Ministry of Agriculture and the Government have been demonstrating towards the primary sector and interior regions., as is the case in the Alentejo.
Based on incorrectly defined targets regarding the area to benefit from support for Ecoregimes, farmers will receive values ​​far below what they had applied for, with the consequent investments already made due to a reality that, after all, not true. And it was not for lack of countless attempts to reach a speech with the Minister of Agriculture. Looking to share reflections and knowledge.
The stance of the Ministry of Agriculture and this Government that, although in management, They must assume their responsibilities for the damage they are causing to farmers and agriculture in our region and our country. We talk about the flaws in the Common Agricultural Policy Strategic Plan, but we also talk about the increasing isolation of our agriculture and our country in relation to EU partners. We talk about desertification and the depopulation of rural areas.
FAABA does not accept the affront of a policy of continuous dismantling of the agricultural sector and the impoverishment of rural areas. Require, that is why, correction of errors and urgent and thorough explanations. It also requires that surplus funds from other measures be channeled to the Ecoregimes in question, in order to minimize losses.
In the statement, FAABA concludes by justifying that “we need a true Minister of Agriculture so that situations like this do not occur againâ€.
