The delegate of the Government in La Rioja, Beatriz Arraiz Nalda, held this morning a meeting with the representatives of the agricultural organizations UAGR, ARAG-Asaja and UPA to expose the direct aid of the State to support farmers and ranchers of the autonomous community affected by the drought.
This aid was made concrete on May 11 after the approval by the Council of Ministers of a royal decree-law with a powerful package of urgent measures to support the agricultural sector to deal with the prolonged drought situation. He also added that the Government of Spain considered that, in the current scenario after the invasion of Ukraine, the sector is subject to a complex situation that, together with the climatic circumstances, makes it an extraordinary and urgent need to adopt measures that guarantee the maintenance and sustainability of agricultural and livestock farms, reaffirm food security and strengthen the path of economic growth of the country. and the worsening of conditions in the primary sector as a result of the war in Ukraine.
In this way, Arraiz Nalda has explained to the agricultural organizations that the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has initiated this week the procedure for the payment of extraordinary aid.
With regard to livestock farms, the provisional list of the holders who will benefit from the aid has been published. In particular, the provisional number of farm owners in La Rioja is 308 and the total provisional amounts amount to 1,676,791 euros.
Per head of cattle, the distribution will be:
- Beef cow (suckler): 143.48 euros
- Sheep and goat of meat: 15.89 euros
- Cow of milk: 55.12 euros
- Sheep and goat of milk: 8.66 euros
On the other hand, the delegate recalled that this same Friday, July 7, and until September 15, applications can be submitted for the aid of the Renove Plan for agricultural machinery, whose budget this year amounts to 9,545,350 euros, which means an increase of 45.7% compared to 2022.
The increase in the budget makes this call the highest amount in recent years and has two lines of aid: one for direct sowing planters, equipped with 3,545,350 euros, and another for the rest of machinery, tractors and automotives that contemplates the order with a budget of 6 million euros.
Diesel and fertilizer aids
As for direct aid for the purchase of diesel for agricultural use, the government delegate has specified that it has been extended until next December. In particular, the amount of the aid will amount to 10 cents for each litre consumed during three months and 5 cents for another three months, which will be calculated taking into account the monthly average realized during 2023.
In addition, the Ministry of Agriculture has already made a second payment of 5.1 million euros of aid to compensate for the rise in the price of the
fertilisers. This new payment adds to the bulk of the payment made in April for 280.8 million euros. In this way, the total amount paid to farmers in Spain for this aid is 285.9 million euros. In La Rioja, in particular, 2,740 farmers have benefited, which amounts to 2,408,089 euros.
In this way, this second payment was aimed at the holders who could not be paid the aid through the first resolution of March, because they were not aware of their tax obligations and with the Social Security, and who have corrected the situation within a month granted for that purpose.