The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, pointed out that Spain has joined the initiative promoted by the United States, which currently brings together 40 states, which is called the ‘Mission of Agricultural Innovation for the Climate’ and that It aims to “develop public investment and private participation in all the objectives in terms of increasing food production and at the same time climate sustainability.”
Speaking to journalists in Córdoba before the closing of the ‘Earth Day’ event, organized by the University of Córdoba, the United States Embassy and the company Valmont Industries, dedicated to irrigation technology, Planas explained that a few days ago, he communicated this to the United States ambassador to Spain and Andorra, Julissa Reynoso, so that she could pass it on to his government and to the Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, with whom he had “a very productive and interesting meeting a few days ago months”.
In this sense, the head of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food of the Spanish Executive stressed: “We must be very clear that this is the only planet we have, that there is no planet B” and “in these conditions we must fully ensure that production and needs at a time as difficult as the one we are experiencing right now and with the suffering that many people are having in Europe with the Russian invasion of Ukraine and all the consequences, human and economic.” In this connection, Planas has called for “joining all efforts to produce the necessary food for humanity in the necessary way.”
Efficient irrigation to maximize water
The minister assured that irrigation is “the jewel in the crown of Spanish agriculture, the spearhead of a modern and competitive sector, which offers opportunities for rural areas”. In fact, with only a quarter of the cultivated area, irrigation contributes two thirds of the value of agricultural production in Spain.
Planas stressed that “the Government is committed to efficient irrigation to get the most out of every drop of water, especially in a context of climate change, in which it is necessary to produce more with less.” As he has pointed out, “irrigation allows agricultural productivity to be multiplied by six, increases up to four times the income of farmers and generates three times more employment.”
Given this, he has expressed the need “to continue investing to produce more food using fewer resources, in the context of a more competitive, profitable and sustainable agriculture.”
In his intervention, he mentioned that “Spain is the leader in the European Union in irrigated area, with more than 3.8 million hectares, and the first in the world in localized irrigation area”. In this area, he praised that “Andalusia has the largest irrigated area in Spain, with around one million hectares, and also the most efficient, with 78% localized irrigation.”
Looking to the future, the effects of climate change together with the need to increase food production make it necessary to take measures to improve the efficiency in the use of water, fertilizers, energy and phytosanitary products. For this reason, the minister considers “essential to continue modernizing and digitizing irrigation, through new technologies and renewable energies, a task that constitutes one of the Government’s great commitments, for which significant investments are allocated”.
Source: dpa
