The Ministry of Agriculture of the Government of the Canary Islands, through the General Directorate of Agriculture, has commissioned the Tecnologías y Servicios Agrarios S.A. (Tragsatec) company to carry out an emergency feasibility study for the replacement of the banana plantation crops that were buried by lava in the eruption of the volcano on the island of La Palma.
The goal of the study, according to the Autonomous Government, is to determine the technical, legal, environmental, and economic feasibility of covering the lava with fertile soil for its subsequent redevelopment and distribution among the affected farmers.
"This study will deal with many issues," said the Minister of Agriculture of the Government of the Canary Islands, Alicia Vanoostende. "We must also decide how to parcel or redistribute the land, find out how much all of this will cost, and what environmental effects it will have," she added.
The chronology of the study, which was presented on Wednesday, was developed by Vanoostende. Currently, the project is in the phase of cataloging the destroyed infrastructures. The goal is to have, within eight months, the conclusions on the viability of the recovery of the affected crops.
The president of the Association of Organizations of Banana Producers of the Canary Islands (Asprocan), Domingo Alvarez, said 228 hectares, which were owned by some 500 producers who must now agree on collective projects to find a viable solution, were buried during the eruption.
"The content of the study initiative is adequate and coincides with what the sector expects. However, it should be carried out faster to avoid producers having to abandon this crop in the face of the need for survival and speculation on crop soils," Asprocan stated.
The Minister of Agriculture stressed on Tuesday that the objective is to recover every last square meter of the agricultural area that the banana producers affected by the eruption of the volcano lost.
Source: efeagro.com