The Council for Environment, Agriculture and Fisheries of the Government of the Balearic Islands will allocate six million Euro to integrated agriculture in the next five years.
As explained in a statement by the Directorate General of Agriculture and Livestock, this is an environmentally-friendly cultivation method that protects the biodiversity and resorts to biological pest control, thus minimising the use of chemical treatments.
Sources from the Council have assured that the system is especially suitable to promote a quality intensive horticulture, with a great production capacity and a preference for innovation.
The Agricultural and Fisheries Guarantee Fund of the Balearic Islands (Fogaiba) has received requests for aid to support 9,131 hectares of integrated production. So far, 400 producers have signed the contract (186 of which in 2015 and 214 in 2016) for the period between 2015 and 2021.
The producers who see their application approved under a five-year contract will receive a total amount of 5,959,815 Euro.
As regards the sectoral distribution of the hectares under integrated production, there are 1,887.93 devoted to cereals, 342.74 to citrus and sweet fruits, 4,563.75 to nuts, 1,260.84 to vegetables in the open ground, 58.44 to vegetables under plastic, 603.63 to olive trees and 413.75 to vineyards.
Councillor Vicenç Vidal pointed out that horticulture has a noteworthy weight in the primary sector, as it is the main productive sector of Balearic agriculture. He also said to be very satisfied with the success of the initiative.
Source: Europa Press
