A pioneering agreement between the Junta de Castilla y León and nine commercial companies will allow students from the Integrated Agricultural Professional Training Centers (CIFP) to be trained in the handling of tractors and cutting-edge equipment, making them experts in the use of domain-transforming technologies, such as satellite images, sensors and Big Data.
The Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Rural Development, María González Corral, today signed the agreement with nine of the main brands of agricultural machinery on the market (Case IH, Claas, Deutz Fahr, Fendt, John Deere, Massey Ferguson, McCormick, New Holland and Valtra). These companies will provide modern tractors between 130 and 180 HP, as well as the necessary equipment (fertilizers, seeders and sprayers), each year and for the duration of the agreement, until 2027 inclusive.
The initiative aims to achieve “greater qualification of students this allows them to adapt to the needs of a sector that requires increasingly specialized professionals”, said González Corral. In this sense, students of agricultural professional training in Castilla y León will improve their employment options by knowledgeable about the operating systems of all tractors on the market.
González Corral thanked the companies for their willingness to participate in this innovative initiative, “which, to our knowledge, “This could be replicated in other communities.”. He indicated that the reason which led the ministry to promote this agreement, signed at the CIFP of Viñalta, is that the current agricultural machinery, highly technical and digitalized “is establishing itself as a key element in the modernization and improvement of competitiveness of agricultural operations by increasing efficiency in the execution of agricultural tasks and their performance”.
375 hectares of agricultural use
The agreement, which will benefit from a Council contribution of almost 360,000 euros, will benefit students enrolled in the six specific centers of the agricultural sector, such as those of Ávila, Albillos (Burgos), Segovia, Santa Espina ( Valladolid), Viñalta (Palencia) and Almazcara (León). In total, around 500 students who have 375 hectares of agricultural use where they will carry out their practical training with tractors and cutting-edge tools. It must be taken into account that with the new agreement, the machine park will always be updated without the need to purchase the hardware.
With this project, as González Corral highlighted, there is also a commitment “to facilitate generational change in the rural world” with “well-trained” young people. To this end, technicians from each of the commercial brands will also collaborate to facilitate learning to use the equipment.
An increasingly attractive sector
The agreement announced today complements other initiatives carried out by the ministry to make the agricultural sector more attractive and more efficient. Among them, González Corral highlighted, on the one hand, those also related to the field of training, such as specialized technical workshops for workers, aids in carrying out training actions or integration courses in the agricultural business.
On the other hand, there are those who fall into the innovation and digitalization group. Among these are the new digital agrarian extension program, “which aims to comprehensively promote digital tools and advanced technologies for our farmers and ranchers.” Also the Agri-Food Network Platform (PAN), “which, financed by European RETECH funds, involves the creation of an interregional system of negotiation and transparency of food products”. And the creation of three AKIS (Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems) groups, “which make the agri-food sector itself the engine of R&D&i and the recipient of its results from within, through the transmission of knowledge between the different members of it. “
Finally, María González Corral highlighted that the event organized today shows, once again, that the Junta de Castilla y León is committed to the rural world, with particular emphasis on professionals in the sector and in the aim to realize that young people see this activity as an interesting professional opportunity. “We are committed to demonstrating that agriculture and livestock are professions of the future“, concluded the advisor.
