The entire agri-food fabric has come together in a dbusiness breakfast organized by Globalcaja, in Albacete, attended by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas Puchades. The event has revolved around the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), its challenges and opportunitiesand as highlighted by the CEO of Globalcaja, Pedro Palacios, stands as one more example of the commitment that the entity maintains with the agri-food sector. “The fact of offering all the parties involved the possibility of hearing first-hand the vision of the Minister of Agriculture on an issue as relevant as the CAP at a time like the present is important to us, as we want to contribute to the sector receiving the entire amount of the aid that corresponds to him ”, he has expressed. In this regard, Pedro Palacios thanked the minister for kindly accepting Globalcaja’s invitation to participate in this informative day, which adds to the more than 60 already carried out in other parts of Castilla-La Mancha and which are being attended by hundreds of farmers and ranchers. Conferences that the entity is carrying out hand in hand with the administration, agri-food associations and cooperatives, “with the conviction that together we go further, which is how we like to do things.”
The CAP, aid for the entire population
The general manager of the entity has made several reflections on the CAP. In the first place, he has ensured that these aids are not only for the field. The CAP has the fundamental objective of guaranteeing a sufficient and quality food for all citizens, therefore, it does not help the countryside, but the entire population”. In addition, he recalled the important role played by the primary sector in the wealth of our land, which already contributes 18% of GDP, and in the structuring of the territory. “What would our towns be without their cooperative and without their Globalcaja office”, has stated. Secondly, Palacios considers it essential “same products, same rules” in order to ensure that regulation does not harm our farmers and prevent some countries from having competitive advantages over others. Likewise, the leader of Globalcaja has shown himself convinced that farmers and ranchers are “the most concerned about the environment”. In this sense, he has valued the care they take of their lands, inherited for several generations, and has assured that “no one is more concerned than them because the countryside more fair, sustainable and social”. On the other hand, Pedro Palacios has congratulated the minister for not having lost European Funds for the sector and for having incorporated a CAP strategic plan, approved together with that of seven other countries, which will make it easier for us to meet the objectives set. Thus, he has recognized that no one, in any field, should work without a well-defined roadmap, “which is nothing more than knowing where we are and where we want to go.” The general director of Globalcaja, who concluded his speech by thanking partners and customers for their trust in an entity that is committed to the land, has assured that, in recent times, the agri-food sector has become a strategic sector “and is taking more value than ever. For this reason, “we must do everything in our power so that the value remains in who produces it, we advance in the commercialization and we revalue the fact in Albacete, in Castilla-La Mancha and in Spain”.
There is no sustainability without profitability
For his part, he Minister of Agriculture has congratulated Globalcaja for its teaching and advisory work to each farmer, to each exploitation, around the CAP, because with this it will contribute to make it a success for the whole of the agri-food sector. Luis Planas has stressed that the challenge in the current world context is “to produce food, with a profitable business base, and to do it in a sustainable way, because among all of us we have to preserve natural resources”. The Minister of Agriculture has identified the response given by the Government of Spain to the current context of difficulties, in four pillars, starting with the Food Chain Law, as a structural pillar, which seeks to give transparency to the food chain -with elements such as the registration of contracts-, and support producers, including the prohibition of selling at a loss. The agricultural insurance They are the second pillar mentioned by Luis Planas, pointing out that its 42 lines are a fundamental instrument to respond to situations that unfortunately occur more and more frequently due to climate change. He has highlighted, in this area, the increase in insurance premiums to 317.7 million euros by 2023, a record amount. The answer given with extraordinary measures, such as the aid offered due to the drought situation; and the new CAP, complete those four pillars to which the Minister of Agriculture has alluded. “The new PAC is income insurance for our agricultural sector, means tranquility, security and certainty”, Luis Planas has pointed out, and his strategic plan has allowed us to x-ray the agricultural sector, to know where we come from and where we are going, as the general director of Globalcaja said very well”, has sentenced Luis Planas. The Minister of Agriculture has defended the balance achieved between sustainability and profitability, “without profitability, there is no sustainability”, he assured, “it is absolutely elementary and reaching this conclusion at a European level was not easy”. At this point, Planas has highlighted the achievement of having managed to consign the same amount as in the previous period of the CAP, 47,724 million, despite the fact that the community budget after Brexit has dropped by 15%.
Incorporation of women and generational change
Now, with the strategic plan approved, there remains an “intense task, such as achieving the €32.5 billion contemplated for the period 2323-2027. Luis Planas concluded by ensuring that Castilla-La Mancha is one of the autonomous communities that has benefited the most from the new model and ensuring that “one cannot live off the CAP, but the CAP is essential so that these small part-time farmers do not abandon their crops and that in a country like ours, with regions with population densities like Lapland, is essential”. The incorporation of women into the sector and generational change, with the arrival of young people, have been other issues addressed by the Minister of Agriculture, before going on to answer the questions raised by those attending this breakfast, where issues such as skyrocketing energy costs have arisen; water management or organic farming. The mayor of Albacete, Emilio Sáez, who has welcomed the Minister of Agriculture to the city, has thanked Globalcaja for organizing this informative breakfast, and has opined that its celebration in the city of Albacete, with the seventh largest municipality Spain’s largest, and with more than 2,700 recipients of CAP aid, who receive more than 32.5 million euros, has a reason to celebrate. The act was also attended by the Government delegate in Castilla-La Mancha, Francisco Tierraseca; the vice president of the Albacete Provincial Council, Amparo Torres; the Deputy Minister for Rural Affairs of the Castilla-La Mancha Community Board, Agapito Portillo; the first vice president of the regional courts, Josefina Navarrete; the president of Cooperativas Agro-alimentarias de España, Ángel Villafranca; the president of the Confederation of Entrepreneurs of Albacete (FEDA), Artemio Pérez; the general secretary of Asaja Castilla-La Mancha, José María Fresneda; and the general secretary of UPA Castilla-La Mancha, Julián Morcillo, among other personalities.