The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Environment and Environmental Policy plans to launch an "authentic" 'comprehensive itinerary for incorporation into the primary sector' that will combine direct economic aid with "continued" technical support, specific business management training, and preferential access to ITACyL innovation projects.
This new incorporation scheme also includes participation in mentoring programs by professionals with extensive experience, with the aim of "significantly" reducing the risks and uncertainties that usually mark the first years of business activity in the field.
This was announced by the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Environment and Environmental Policy, Joaquín Antonio Pino, from Vox, during his intervention this Thursday in the relevant Commission, in which he detailed the main lines of action of his department for the XII Legislature.
In his appearance, he stressed that the Ministry will not limit itself to granting an initial subsidy at the time of installation and then disengaging from the beneficiary. "The objective will not be to artificially increase the number of files, but to consolidate professional, profitable and lasting projects," he stated.
Pino emphasized that the profitability of farms will become the axis of all his department's policy and announced: "Each order, decree, call for proposals or aid line will be evaluated for its impact on competitiveness, production costs and the economic viability of the professional family farming model: those who live from agricultural activity, invest, generate employment and keep rural towns alive."
At the same time, he indicated that generational change will be linked to greater visibility and recognition of the role of women in rural areas, and promised to promote access to land and financing, technical training, entrepreneurship and shared ownership of farms, with the goal of "creating real opportunities for life and work, attracting talent and ensuring the continuity of the productive fabric of Castilla y León."
In another part of his speech, the minister defined irrigation policy as "a strategic investment of the Community" and guaranteed that the Board will modernize or transform 30,000 hectares throughout the legislature, in coordination with the General Administration of the State and with irrigation communities.
In this context, he specified that actions will be promoted in Bajo Carrión, Páramo Bajo, Payuelos, Canal Bajo del Bierzo, El Carracillo, La Armuña, and the Valdavia valley, among other irrigable areas of the Community.
In relation to land consolidation, he committed to declaring 150,000 new hectares of public utility and to prioritize supramunicipal projects, in order to unify technical, environmental, and territorial planning studies and significantly shorten administrative deadlines.
Pino also announced a reform of the Agrarian Law to facilitate the processing of the 37 consolidation processes promoted by private initiative that are currently underway and affect approximately 51,000 hectares, in addition to providing for specific aid to cover part of the associated technical and topographical work.
To these measures, he added an extraordinary allocation of 6.64 million euros intended to "immediately" tender fifteen projects for roads, agricultural infrastructure, water reservoirs, and livestock ponds, and announced the reinforcement of the work of the 44 Local Action Groups through the implementation of simplified costs "so that their teams spend less time justifying files and more time supporting investments and business projects."
During his initial presentation, which lasted nearly two hours, Pino emphasized the importance of integrating the competencies of agriculture, livestock, rural development, and environmental policy into a single ministry, with the intention of overcoming "artificial confrontation" between agricultural production and the protection of the natural environment. "The natural environment must be at the service of man, and not man at the service of limiting ideological abstractions," he maintained.
Together, it has assumed 15 legislative commitments with an "inclusive approach" that, as stated, will allow facing the "complex challenges" of the period "from a much broader, effective, close-to-the-ground perspective and fully oriented towards the defense of the general interest of Castilla y León" and far from "the coldness or distance of the offices of the Ministry in Valladolid".
"We are starting a new stage without ideological complexes and with very clear ideas, in contrast to the passive resignation of those who view the rural environment as a mere inert theme park, a restrictive reserve or a museum of the past subject to distant and harmful global agendas for our economy, this regional Government conceives the countryside of Castilla y León as a land of the future, of technological vanguard, of economic prosperity, of productive freedom and of deep cultural pride," it concluded in its first speech.