Apaema demands more guarantees to protect agricultural land and reinforce organic production in the new agrarian law
The association values that the Government's project includes part of its demands, but considers that there are still pending aspects during the parliamentary processing
PalmaThe Association of Ecological Agricultural Production of Mallorca (Apaema) considers that the draft agrarian law approved by the Governing Council includes part of its demands, but it demands that the text incorporate more guarantees to protect agricultural land and provide more decisive support for ecological production.
The entity considers that the improvement of the profitability of agricultural holdings must be accompanied by effective protection of the land and a strengthening of organic farming. Therefore, it advocates that during the parliamentary process, the modifications it still considers pending can be introduced. One of the aspects that Apaema values positively is that the project maintains the maximum number of agritourism places per holding at six, instead of the ten that were initially proposed.
On the other hand, the association criticizes the fact that the possibility of expanding the volume of certain buildings intended for complementary activities by up to 20% is maintained, even though the text establishes that these expansions cannot mean an increase in occupancy or buildability. Apaema considers that the law should also establish a limit so that complementary activities do not come to represent more than 30% of the total income or revenue of the holding.
The association does value positively the incorporation of collective workshops for small holdings, in addition to the mandate to promote measures for health and hygiene flexibility for small-scale production, provided that public health guarantees are maintained. Likewise, it looks favorably upon the provisions related to the use, exchange, and sale of seeds of local varieties, as well as the promotion of crop rotation, the protection of pollinators, and the maintenance of soil fertility.
Pending demands for organic farming
Regarding organic production, however, Apaema considers that the draft bill falls short. The entity regrets that the text does not recover the recognition of organic farming as a specific strategic sector, one of its main demands.
The project conditions support for this production system on it not generating disadvantages for other production systems. For Apaema, the law should explicitly recognize the contribution of organic farming and translate this recognition into concrete support measures.
Among its demands, there is that the product that administrations acquire as organic through public procurement should also be of local production and that the exclusivity of the Balearic Council for Organic Agricultural Production (CBPAE) in the control of this production should be guaranteed. Apaema also regrets that the project does not incorporate its request to prohibit the sowing of GMOs nor does it eliminate the provision regarding certain new genomic techniques.
Construction on rustic land
Regarding the construction of dwellings on rustic land, the entity highlights that the project establishes that certain new residential buildings must have an agrarian counterpart for 15 years.
Apaema believes that it would be necessary to go further on this issue, but acknowledges that this provision represents an improvement over the current situation. On the other hand, it regrets that the Government has not incorporated another of its demands: to reserve 50% of the annual revenue from the Sustainable Tourism Tax (ITS) to remunerate the environmental services provided by the primary sector.
Apaema believes that these services contribute to the maintenance of the territory and demands that a part of the resources generated by tourism activity also serve to compensate them. Nevertheless, the association finds that the parliamentary processing of the draft law now offers an opportunity to strengthen the text and incorporate the guarantees that are still missing.
The goal, according to Apaema, is for the future law to allow for ensuring a viable peasantry, organic production with effective support, and lasting protection of agricultural land. For this reason, the entity demands that the parliamentary debate serve to correct the shortcomings it has detected and that the final text gives more weight to the protection of the land and to a model of organic agricultural production rooted in the territory.