Planas advocates “adaptation” to rising temperatures and support for farmers in maintaining crops

Until just a few days ago, the Minister for Agriculture, fishing and foodLuis Planas, he totally believed in it food prices (which recorded a 16.5% increase in March compared to the previous year, according to INE data) were “restrained” as the weeks passed because they would start to reflect “sooner rather than later” the decline in subject premiums on international markets. Instead, another setback destroyed this hope: drought.

The situation is so serious Spanish field because of the water shortage – there are areas in the country where not a single drop has fallen for 120 days – that the head of agriculture finally had to admit that it is now “very difficult” to know when that long-awaited drop in the price of food in the supermarket will occur. “We monitor agricultural production and markets in Spain every day, but the drought is an additional factor that also plays a role in this regard, so it is very difficult to make a forecast,” the minister said in a television program.

Despite this, Planas once again reiterated that the measures implemented in January (reduction of VAT on certain foodstuffs and direct support to farmers) they made it possible to “contain” inflation. “At this moment, I’m not talking about reduction, I’m talking about containment,” he emphasized.

In that scenario, we have to “fight so that the temperature does not rise, but also adapt,” said Planas, who stressed the importance of supporting the agricultural sector in order to continue producing. For this, they have direct assistance from the Government (300 million euros to date, which the sector considers insufficient considering the seriousness of the situation) and flexibility Community Agricultural Policy (CAP) adapt it to this context.

“Having enough food, which is of good quality and at a reasonable price, is absolutely essential. That is why the sector must be supported at this moment and that is why these relaxation measures are combined with actions in the field of agricultural insurance and others,” he said. In Spain, according to Agrosegur, 2.7 million hectares of arable crops are protected by agricultural insurance.