The Executive of Castilla-La Mancha has managed to be the first to obtain the adaptation of the CAP “with legal certainty that avoids sanctions to farmers or the Autonomous Community itself, that is, we are going to adapt it with all the legal guarantees”, according to The Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Rural Development, Julián Martínez Lizán, reported in a press conference he gave in Albacete.
The counselor explained the negotiation of the regional government with the Ministry “to respond to the requests that the professional agricultural organizations had been making to us, but not in any way, but with all the guarantees to avoid financial adjustments and less money arriving, something “That’s not going to happen.”
Measures to adjust agricultural practices to eco-regimes
As a result of these negotiations, the day after tomorrow the Government Council will be informed of the resolution that establishes the measures to adjust agricultural practices linked to eco-regimes, to the extreme drought conditions that some regions have suffered and that will have effects on the campaign. of 2024 CAP applications starting February 1.
In total, the entire province of Albacete, Manchuela Cuenca and Campo de Montiel (Ciudad Real) will benefit from this adaptation, which together add up to 245 municipalities. To determine the areas affected by drought, the indicator of low rainfall for the current hydrological year (standardized precipitation index SPI) has been taken into account.
The counselor has indicated that this situation is having “a very significant impact” on the agricultural sector since it has occurred on the dates in which the sowing of important crop groups is carried out. Also, crops already planted and extensive livestock farming are being affected by the loss of pastures and the increase in the costs of food given to livestock.
For all these reasons, “we are going to modify, in the territorial scope of the municipalities of Ciudad Real, Cuenca and the entire province of Albacete, the aid related to grazing eco-regimes, crop rotation, vegetation covers and aid for biodiversity beekeeping”, the counselor continued.
Furthermore, Julián Martínez Lizán has made it clear that “this is an open adaptation, that is, if these extreme drought conditions persist, we will once again request an extension of the adaptation to respond to the needs of other regions,” although he has expressed his wish that “time accompanies the development of crops and it is not necessary to implement these new measures.”
Measures taken
Regarding the measures that have been adopted, the counselor has detailed that for the eco-regimes of extensive grazing, mowing and biodiversity on pasture surfaces, a minimum grazing period with animals belonging to the farm of 90 days is established, which in The general rule is 120 days; secondly, the minimum average annual stocking rate and the maximum stocking rate in Mediterranean pastures is established at 0.1 UGM per hectare (UGM/ha) and 1.2 UGM/ha; and finally, the minimum average annual stocking rate and the maximum stocking rate, in humid pastures, is established at 0.2 UGM/ha and 2 UGM/ha.
Secondly, for crop rotation it has been established that at least 25 percent of the area of crop land that is covered by the ecoregime, presents each year a crop different from the previous crop, in accordance with the same criteria established in the CAP strategic plan 2023-2027. Likewise, in the same practice, fallow may reach up to 40 percent of the surface of the cropland. And, thirdly, in the practice of direct sowing, vertical tillage will be allowed.
Lastly, and for vegetal covers, it has been established that in spontaneous or planted ones in woody crops, superficial vertical maintenance work on the covers will be permitted that does not involve, in any case, the modification of the soil structure, maintaining the obligation that The soil does not remain bare at any time of the year.
Also, the annual commitment must be met to establish or maintain a spontaneous or sown vegetation cover on the land throughout the year, whether alive or withered, so that the soil does not remain bare at any time of the year. In this sense, the vegetation cover must remain alive on the land, for a minimum period of two months, within the period between October 1 and March 31. Regarding the inert covers of pruning remains, superficial vertical work will be permitted, which does not involve the modification of the soil structure, nor the disappearance of the cover, nor does it prevent it from achieving its environmental benefits.
Finally, and regarding beekeeping for biodiversity in Castilla-La Mancha, the resolution establishes, based on exceptionality, a retention period for the municipalities within the territorial scope of this resolution of at least four months, for which have been established between October 1 to May 31, when it is generally established in six months.