The Government allocates more than 3.3 million euros to Cantabria to finance rural development, agriculture and livestock interventions

The Government, through the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, has authorized, at the Council of Ministers on Tuesday, the distribution of 3,343,704 euros to Cantabria to finance interventions in rural development, agriculture and livestock.

The following table shows the distribution of items approved for Cantabria:

In total, the autonomous communities will receive eight credits in the amount of 207.7 million euros, to finance rural development interventions contemplated in the National Strategic Plan of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and different actions in the field of competitiveness and quality of production of the markets, plant and animal health and the Community Support Program for Agricultural Productions (POSEI) of the Canary Islands.

Once authorized by the Government, the distribution of the funds will be submitted to the Sectoral Conference on Agriculture and Rural Development, which will be held next Friday, April 19.

Rural development

The main appropriation, for a total amount of 158,196,035 euros, is for the financing of interventions of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) corresponding to the first year of implementation of the Strategic Plan of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) 2023-2027, from which 2,901,852 euros are allocated to Cantabria.

For this period, the State will provide the autonomous communities with 30% of the national funding and, in order to make this distribution of funds, the distribution criterion agreed with the autonomous communities in May 2023 has been used.

Actions in Agriculture and Livestock

The Council of Ministers has also authorised the proposal for the territorial distribution of seven credits for the financing of various lines of action, for a total amount of 49.6 million euros, of which 441,852 euros are allocated to Cantabria, which must also be submitted to the approval of the Sectoral Conference on Agriculture and Rural Development.

Within the Competitiveness and Quality of Production and Markets programme, a total credit of 4.5 million euros has been authorized for the beekeeping promotion line, of which 34,262 euros is allocated to Cantabria.

For the distribution of this amount, the number of hives registered in the Register of Livestock Farms (REGA) has been taken into account and, among other issues, the official program for the surveillance of attacks and diseases of hives, particularly of varroosis, will be financed.

The total credit directed to the promotion of the Spanish native breeds amounts to 1.45 million euros, being 33,720 euros for Cantabria. This line supports the associations of native breeders recognized by the autonomous communities for the management of genealogical books and the development of activities related to improvement programs and germplasm banks.

Within this same line of management and promotion of livestock improvement and conservation of biodiversity, a credit of another 1.45 million euros is provided for the official control of milk yield, with 78,893 euros for Cantabria. This appropriation will support the genetic evaluation of bovine, ovine and caprine species and the improvement of the competitiveness of farms.

Plant and animal health

In the field of plant health, the main objective of pest prevention and control programs is to support the implementation of actions that allow the control and subsequent eradication of certain diseases. The amount with which the Government supports the prevention and fight against pests in this exercise is 10.57 million euros, of which 5,568 euros correspond to Cantabria.

In addition, the appropriation of 8.83 million euros has been authorized for the State programmes for the eradication of animal diseases. This line of actions has implications for both animal health and public health, as well as for exports of livestock products. From this item, 289,407 euros are for Cantabria.

The distribution of these funds takes into account criteria such as support for compulsory slaughter compensation for animals affected by various communicable diseases and sanitary emptying of farms, and the purchase of bluetongue vaccines, among others.