The Government of Aragon enables up to 50M € to mitigate drought damage

The Department of Rural Development and Sustainability of the Government of Aragon will support the creation of a specific line of loan of up to 50 million euros for farmers and ranchers affected by the drought that need to resort to financing their expenses. The aid will consist of financing the interest to which the banks perform these operations trying to get as close as possible to zero.

The measure is aimed at the professional farmers on the right bank of the Ebro, where the most serious drought problems have occurred, proving that they have contracted some type of insurance

These measures have been announced by the head of the Department, Joaquin Olona, at the meeting of the Bureau of Agricultural Productions on June 29th, attended by representatives of agrarian organizations, agri-food cooperatives, irrigation communities, FEREBRO, The Hydrographic Confederation of the Ebro and Agroseguro.

As recognized by the Aragonese director, “this initiative is a great effort for the Administration as it deals with an additional expenditure to the budget of the Autonomous Community and will assume the entirety of the Aragonese Executive”.

Likewise, the Minister recalled that the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food and Environment (MAPAMA) has already been asked to include the right bank of the Ebro in the Royal Decree of aid for drought, recently approved.

On the other hand, the department will facilitate the early collection of CAP 2017 (Common Agricultural Policy) aid, streamlining the intermediary procedures with the banking entities through which they are managed. Olona said that “the Government of Aragon can pay the advance, which the European Commission has to authorize the first week of November to those files that comply with all administrative requirements”,

The meeting has also served to conduct an analysis of the functioning of agricultural insurance and its deficiencies. In this sense, Rural Development is committed to carrying out, together with the sector, a deeper study to detect and identify all those imperfections of the system and implement or impel accurate corrections.

Cereal production in Teruel is down 40%

The year 2017 has been characterized by its unusually dry and hot spring, very marked in places that led to lack of rain (Teruel and right bank of the Ebro), which has resulted in very low yields in the winter cereal crop, increased by late frosts that have also affected fruit trees and vine. Also the hail has begun to manifest itself in some points of the Aragonese geography, causing damages of relative importance.

Total winter cereal production in the region is estimated to be close to the average for the last 17 years, that is 2 million tonnes. This claim is misleading since the potential of irrigation to cushion the climatic irregularities of rainfed masks damages in some regions, especially in the Teruel, where the presence of irrigation tends to be testimonial.

The most relevant of this winter cereal campaign is the reduction of production especially on the right bank of the Ebro.

In the province of Teruel is estimated a 40% decline in normal production, this means losses of 140,000 tonnes or about 23 million euros, affecting 6,350 farms

The rainfed areas of Calatayud and Daroca are also seriously affected, with production losses of 40% and 25% respectively, which can translate into 4 and 5 million euros of losses in relation to a normal harvest, affecting to something more than 2,000 farms that grow cereal. Other droughts must be added to the drought, such as frost or hail.

In the present campaign the decrease of cereal productions has been territorially unequal and will affect the 35% of the grains farms of Aragon

Thus, a total of 8,350 farms located in Teruel and right bank of the river Ebro will see reduced cereal income of rainfed on an average of about 3,830 euros per holding.

Source: Department of Rural Development and Sustainability of the Government of Aragon