The agrarian organization APAG Extremadura Asaja expressed its “enormous discomfort” in the face of “lack of commitment” that, according to him, the Department of Agriculture of the Government of Extremadura has towards cereal producers, “especially due to the contempt it has shown” when processing authorizations for the controlled burning of stubble in the countryside of Extremadura since August 28.
This was emphasized by the president of APAG Extremadura Asaja, Juan Metidieri, during a press conference this Thursday, October 10 in Mérida, during which he explained that on August 1, a circular from the Ministry of Agriculture was published to enable micro and small farms to achieve this controlled burning of stubble in the field for phytosanitary reasons.
As noted, since August 28, There are more than 300 requests issued in Extremadura to carry out this firebut nevertheless “barely a dozen of them were treated”, lamented Metidieri, who stressed that Apag Extremadura Asaja has always defended that the controlled burning of stubble in the fields “is the measure that resolves pests and diseases”, in addition to polluting much less with fire than with the dumping of chemicals in our fields.
“Those who were previously in opposition and agreed with us are no longer in opposition. The film has changed,” said the president of APAG Extremadura Asaja, who asked the Minister of Agriculture, Mercedes Morán, to “facilitate once and for all this controlled burning of stubble in the countryside”, and to resolve “this serious problem which poses the cereal areas of Extremadura”, he declared.
This situation causes “serious damage to farmers during sowing due to the excess straw that accumulates in the field”, which is why farmers “I’m waiting for answers from the council to solve these problems”, which shows “once again that farmers are being turned away and environmentalists are once again being applauded”.
Finally, the president of Apag Extremadura Asaja recalls that they have requested meetings with the president of the regional government of Extremadura, María Guardiola, since last July 5, but “for the moment, without answers”, he therefore warned that if they did If you don’t get answers, “you will have to go to the Presidency and make the request directly there”, explains Metidieri.
In the same way, Apag Extremadura Asaja continues to request the entry of the integrated grain measure, after which it has emphasized that the response of the Ministry of Agriculture is that it is in full negotiation and that it depends on its approval in Brussels, therefore this measure would only be implemented in 2025 or 2026.
