The subdelegate of the Government in Lugo, Isabel Rodríguez, highlighted today in Samos the commitment of the Government with new farmers and ranchers offering training stays in model farms throughout Spain with the Cultiva Program, which has a budget of 1 million euros from the Ministry of Agriculture. “The Government maintains a clear commitment to the primary sector, fundamental to our province, capable of generating employment and boosting the economy, while helping to establish population in our municipalities,” said Isabel Rodríguez during a visit to a livestock farm in Samos that participates in this state plan.
The deputy delegate, accompanied by the mayor of Samos, Julio Gallego, explained that this program of the Ministry of Agriculture aims to offer, people under 41 who began their agricultural activity for the last 5 years, practical training from 5 to 14 days in model farms, “where they have the opportunity to acquire and consolidate knowledge on technical and management aspects that they will then apply in the development of their own agricultural activity.”
Thus, Andrés Laso, who has a beef cebadeiro in Palencia, has been getting to know first-hand the work developed by Miguel Gallego, owner of an extensive beef production and reproduction farm in Samos, which has 20 heads, mainly of the Galician reddish breed, protected by the Protected Geographical Indication Ternera Gallega. This Lucense farmer already participated in the previous edition of the program by visiting several farms in Cantabria and Catalonia to expand knowledge and witness how they work in other areas of Spain.
During the meeting, Isabel Rodríguez highlighted this type of initiatives that “show the commitment of the Government of Pedro Sánchez to the agro-livestock sector, favoring the incorporation of young people and promoting their professionalization, with the main objective of responding to one of the most relevant challenges that we currently face, the generational emphasis”.
Regarding the Cultiva Program, the subdelegate explained that the Government is responsible for the expenses of accommodation, maintenance and transportation of the participants in the training stays. With that of Samos, in the province participate 4 model reception farms located in Navia de Suarna, Guntín and Friol. In each one there is a training manager responsible for transmitting, from their experience and types of production, practical and technical knowledge that young people can then apply on their farms.
In the allocation of training stays, the Ministry of Agriculture prioritized the most recently installed people, women farmers and livestock farmers and those who did not participate in last year’s program. In addition to training, the stays also include complementary techniques to other bodies, entities, associations, cooperatives and/or nearby farms.
The stays offered are organized by the collaborating entities of the program: Agricultural News Farmers Association (ASAJA), Spanish Farm-food Cooperatives Union of Cooperatives, Union of Farmers and Livestock Unions, Union of Small Farmers and Livestock Farmers (UPA) and Union of Agricultural Family Schools (UNEFA).
220 million to guarantee generational relief
Likewise, the subdelegate alluded to the 220 million euros per year that the Government of Spain allocates with the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) exclusively to incorporate boys and girls into agricultural activity, thus guaranteeing the future of the sector. “A further sample of the government’s public policies with which we want to establish future projects in rural areas with innovative, sustainable and ecological initiatives,” he added.