Rural Development has announced a €6 million measure to compensate for increased costs of raw materials for animal feed.

 

Navarra activates the Table of Drought to make a common diagnosis with the sector and to follow the evolution and consequences of the lack of rainfall. It is a table that has not been convened since 2012.

The meeting was attended by the Minister of Rural Development and Environment, Itziar Gómez; the General Directors of Agriculture and Livestock and Rural Development, the manager of the public society INTIA, and representatives of UAGN, EHNE, UCAN and ALINAR.

The minister has transferred to the sector the data of a report commissioned to INTIA to assess the impact of drought in the different productive sectors and announced that it will allocate 6 million euros, 4.2 million own funds, to deal with the difficult situation in the agricultural sector and, in particular, the livestock sectors. In particular, Navarre will activate 100% of the EAFRD funds allowed by Brussels (1.8 million) and will also complete them with 4.2 million from the Government of Navarre.

As Itziar Gómez explained, “the measure is aimed primarily at the livestock sector which is suffering the most from the lack of pasture combined with the increase in the cost of feed as a result of the war in Ukraine, in addition to the increase in energy costs”. The counsellor added that “in this situation we are going to commit ourselves with the funds of the Government of Navarre to the maximum so that we have 6 million that will be directed precisely to the sector most affected by the drought, livestock sector, mainly in extensive producer of bovine and equine sheep meat; a measure in which we want to be agile and that we work so that it is granted in the first quarter of 2023”.

Report data

In the agricultural sectors, the following rain-fed crops have been analysed: forage maize, sunflower, almond, vineyard and olive trees. Data on average annual production in Navarre have been collected in fodder maize, sunflower and almond trees.

-Fodder maize: Crop reduction is estimated at around 44%, mainly in Comarca I (north-western mountains)

-Cereal: average decrease of 22%, more marked in the northern zone.

-Sunflower: Harvest reduction close to 28% (districts III and IV, Cuenca de Pamplona and Tierra Estella)

-Almond: Crop reduction close to 60%.

-Olive grove: The decrease in rainfed harvest today can be estimated around 10% – 15% in general Navarre, but it is foreseeable that in the middle area the decrease is greater and in the southern area somewhat lower

As for meadows and pastures, both in Region I and Region II, a decrease in production of around 30% is indicated with respect to the average production of the last 10 years. For its part, the decrease in production in Urbasa amounts to 43%.

And finally, with regard to dams and irrigation, the contributions accumulated in the three months May-June-July are at historic lows since 1980. The Aragon and Arba basins have come into emergency. The volume today, according to the weekly portion of 5 September, is 87.1 hm3 (or 19.5%). Prorations and supply restrictions are having to be applied in the large irrigated areas supplied by Yesa (which would affect some 18,000 hectares in Navarre). The basins of the Irati, Arga and Ega are in prealerta. Itoiz today has a volume of 172.5 hm3 (41.3%). The irrigable area of the Canal de Navarra has not suffered any restrictions this summer.

The Drought Bureau will remain active in monitoring the situation.

 

SOURCE: NAVARRA.ES