Agroaldea
The new regulation “does not give any subsidy, but tools to defend themselves ".
The Consell de Govern Balear has approved the Agrarian Law project, a regulation aimed at compensating peasants for the conservation of the territory by promoting new activities such as agrotourism accommodation and shops for the direct sale of farm products.
For the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Territory, Biel Company, “The rural heritage has to be rebuilt and revalued”, shown their confidence that the law will be approved before the end of the year to enter into force in 2015 in parallel to the new Common Agricultural Policy (PAC).
Company stressed that the new regulation “does not give any subsidy, but tools to defend yourself”, has highlighted Company in reference to the peasants, that may change the use of agricultural buildings, of which the previous to 1991 will be automatically considered legal.
The minister has insisted that the regulations will not imply a residential urban development on rustic land, because the reforms and changes of uses will limit the volumes depending on the pre-existing buildings.
In his view, “it is fair to compensate those who for years have maintained farms” with the possibility of supplementing your income with activities such as direct sales, that you will have to stick to your own products and not occupy dependencies greater than those 150 square meters.
In addition, the “agrotiendas” will mean a stimulus for the agri-food industry and the development of expanding sectors such as oenology and olive oil.
Another novel aspect of the future law is the creation of preserves to regulate the collection of mushrooms, snails or asparagus and allow landowners to reap economic benefits from these traditional activities.
The minister has emphasized that in recent years respect for farm owners has been lost by some fans of collecting mushrooms or snails.
In the development of complementary uses to agriculture, the holders of “preferred agricultural holdings”, figure created to give greater facilities to peasants whose income comes mainly from farm work.
The future Agrarian Law also regulates the exploitation of forest areas to produce energy from biomass, irrigation with reclaimed water and the specific consideration of the equine sector, which according to Company is not only not an activity “for gentlemen”, as in your opinion some think, but an area whose development may be strategic for the Balearic countryside.