AgroaldeaDESDE LA ORGANIZACIÓN OPINAN QUE 2011 SERÁ RECORDADO COMO UN MAL AÑO PARA EL SECTOR.
A pesar de que, en el ámbito del empleo, la actividad agraria se ha convertido en un sector refugio al que acuden desempleados de otras actividades como la construcción o los servicios, los productores agrarios han visto mermados sus ingresos, según COAG Canarias.
A pesar del incremento de los controles por parte de las distintas administraciones, a Canarias han seguido entrando de manera fraudulenta producciones de países con menores estándares laborales, medioambientales y fitosanitarios que, In addition, en muchas ocasiones han sido vendidas como producciones del país.
Esta práctica ilegal tiene que ser perseguida y castigada, since it explains to a large extent the strong instability of the income obtained by producers. This question is transferable, in the case of tomato, to Morocco's continued non-compliance with its agreement for the export of this product to the EU.
Another very worrying issue, and that has put the livestock sector on the ropes, has been the sharp rise in the prices of imported cereals to feed the livestock herd. In just one year, products like millet have become more expensive 60%, severely affecting a livestock sector whose main production cost is feeding its animals.
This increase in input costs has also been suffered by farmers., whose fertilizer costs, pesticides, plastics,.. have doubled since 2007. It contributes to this, for example, the fact that in the Canary Islands there is still no professional agricultural diesel, which means that filling the tractor tank costs the producers of the Islands 20 euros more than one from the peninsula or the Azores.
This situation, together with the problems derived from climate change and the instability of oil prices, They should serve as an incentive to promote agricultural activity that is less dependent on the outside world., and to promote the increase in the degree of self-sufficiency.
The lack of transparency in the agri-food market and the existing differential between what
what the consumer pays and what the producer receives, It has been another of the workhorses
of COAG-Canarias in this 2011 that ends. In fact, Rafael Hernández, president of
COAG-Canary Islands, has been part of the High Level Group on agricultural prices of the
European Comission, having the opportunity to address this problem with
representatives of the European administration and with the highest representatives of the
industry and commerce of the continent.
Delays in payments of the POSEI program (payments to ranchers are still pending,
winegrowers and tomato growers 2010) and the difficulties in managing the Program
Rural Development of the Canary Islands, that the European Commission itself has revealed,
These have been other issues that have deserved our attention this year. 2011,
especially since these two programs encompass more than 95% of the total funds that
Canarian producers receive to promote their activity and complement their income.
In this sense, The situation of the Local Action Groups that
manage LEADER programs, entities that bring together dozens of social agents, and
who currently find themselves with enormous difficulties in continuing with their important
labor.
From COAG-Canarias they hope that in 2012 the road to income recovery begins
agrarian and the degree of self-sufficiency. For this change of course, COAG-Canarias considers it necessary to establish a series of priority objectives.
On the one hand, It is vital to differentiate Canarian productions at points of sale. For this, it is necessary to tighten the control of illegally imported productions., promote local varieties and organic productions and establish standardization and identification systems for productions grown in the Canary Islands.
Obtaining a fair income for the producer must be another priority, for which direct sales systems to the consumer must be promoted, launch a price observatory in the Canary Islands and encourage stable agreements between the primary sector, the
distribution and