Luis Planas defends the role of OFI & ELI and reveals strong investments to modernize and optimize the use of water in the agro-industrial sector
The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food , Luis Planas, has once again reiterated the commitment and commitment of the Government of Spain to sustainability and organic production, highlighting the undeniable role played by the Organic Food Iberia fair in promoting and disseminating the sector and the consumption of these products. Planas and his Ministry want to go a step further, and in the context of this moment of economic and environmental uncertainty, the minister affirms that the next challenge will have to do with water management in agriculture .
Specifically, sustainable irrigation will be the key to meeting the challenges of climate change in agriculture and to be able to maintain in the future the food production model that responds to the population’s demand. For this reason, the Government will concentrate investments in the next five years worth more than 2,100 million euros to promote a reconversion of the countryside towards sustainable parameters, a push that will help Spanish producers to continue joining organic production from the improvement of hydraulic management.
Agriculture has among its priorities the modernization of irrigation, with 563 million euros planned until 2026, through various actions that will modernize 200,000 hectares of irrigated land, which will benefit some 20,000 farmers. The minister stressed that this package is part of the Government’s firm and decisive commitment to sustainable irrigation, which is necessary to maintain a sufficient food production system in the future and in a scenario of less availability of water resources .
“We have the challenge of food sufficiency throughout the planet, and we have to respond in a scenario that requires us to face what is urgent without leaving behind what is necessary,” he said in a press release, in which he referred to the situation of climate change with extreme phenomena such as droughts or fires caused by high temperatures. For this reason, he has assured that “it is necessary to make better use of water.” Issues such as the lower consumption of water resources, the substitution of surface and groundwater for regenerated or salinized water , the incorporation of renewable energy that represents savings, or the installation of remote control meters and precision instruments in the irrigation system are prioritized. .
.
The post Siguiente reto ecológico: la gestión sostenible del agua en el sector agroindustrial appeared first on Organic Food Iberia.
Organic Food Iberia