The Minister of Water, Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Joaquín Buendía, announced this Monday that the Community has accelerated the payment of agro-environmental aid directed at more than 6,100 farmers and ranchers in the Region, for a total amount of 29.6 million euros, according to the regional Executive.
In a meeting held with the Board of Directors of UPA Murcia, Buendía explained that these aids "compensate farmers for the application of sustainable and environmentally friendly practices, within the framework of the Common Agricultural Policy".
This meeting is part of the round of meetings that the head of the Ministry is carrying out with the main professional agricultural organizations, with the aim of directly understanding the reality of the sector and advancing responses to its main challenges.
During the working session, the minister highlighted the "effort" of the regional Government "to accelerate the processing of these aids -- whose payment has a deadline of June 30 --, thus reinforcing the liquidity of the farms and giving certainty to the beneficiaries".
Agro-environmental aid is structured in several lines, including organic farming, which absorbs the largest part of the resources, as well as interventions for the protection of steppe avifauna; the maintenance of habitats in Natura 2000 areas; beekeeping aimed at biodiversity, and the conservation of native breeds, among other measures.
The application of the Food Chain Law was also analyzed at the meeting, one of the issues that causes the most concern among professionals in the field.
Buendía emphasized "the commitment of the regional Government to guarantee its compliance and strengthen the position of farmers and ranchers, with inspection actions already initiated on 30 operators, the reinforcement of resources and collaboration with the Food Information and Control Agency, as well as participation in a pilot project to unify inspection criteria among autonomous communities".