The agricultural organisation COAG believes that the funds granted by the European Union (EU) to assist horticultural producers affected by the Russian ban are "insufficient," and has called for plums to also be taken into consideration.
The regional secretary, Juan Moreno, says that the non-inclusion of plums (still not final) would be a "major setback" for all growers in the region.
Juan Moreno believes that the current situation has been the result of a "political crisis" and therefore "political measures" are required; consequently, he calls for the 125 million Euro to be granted by the EU to come from an additional outstanding budget and not from CAP money.
The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has 423 million Euro available to be allocated in crisis situations to agricultural and livestock sectors, but COAG considers that the issue with Russia is not the result of problems within a given sector, but a situation derived from a political decision.
COAG Extremadura has denounced the "problems" generated in the export of Extremaduran plums, not only for those that were shipped directly to Russia, but also those sold to companies in other regions or countries operating in the Russian market.
As Moreno pointed out, and according to data provided by associations and cooperatives in the autonomous region, 50 million kilos of plums remain to be harvested, of which about 30 million would be affected.
He recalled the price crisis which "has been going on for some time" with some of these products, such as nectarines, which has also been affected by the "problems with France;" consequently, the Russian situation could lead to a major crisis for the crop in 2015.
