Wednesday, March 15, 2023, 11:07 p.m.
The auditorium of the Hospital de Santiago hosted yesterday the seventh edition of the Agroecological Congress, which was organized by the Agroecosistema Foundation and sponsored by Sohiscert and Banco Santander, and in which the Spanish Society of Organic Agriculture, the Olive and Oil Association and the City Council collaborated of Úbeda, through its Agriculture area.
During the inauguration, the mayoress, Antonia Olivares, thanked the Agroecosistema Foundation for its commitment to the city of Úbeda to hold this congress of great interest to producers, technicians, agricultural consultants, industries, cooperatives, marketers and companies involved in the chain agroalimentaria, which had the registration of some 200 people, coming from different parts of Spain.
The councilor emphasized that it was a subject that is very important for the Ubetense city, since agriculture is one of the pillars of the local economy, for which, according to what she said, the conclusions of this congress will be studied by the government location afterwards.
And it is that, as he recalled, the Consistory has given priority to initiatives to support the agricultural sector with different actions, and to the promotion of extra virgin olive oil, a hallmark of this land. “For our government it has been a priority,” he commented, to which he added that this promotion is done from spaces such as the Olive and Oil Interpretation Center or the Agricultural Machinery Fair, or with policies such as the annual promotion of the Arrangements Master Plan of Rural Roads, endowed with more than 500,000 euros.
In this sense, Olivares made it clear that, despite the difficult moment that the agricultural sector is going through, its professionals have always found the outstretched hand of the City Council. “We understand that all the help given to our countryside results in the development and growth of the city of Úbeda,” he added.
In the words of Eduardo Merello, president of the Agroecosistema Foundation, this annual meeting usually deals with issues centered on agroecology, although this year it was opened to also deal with the CAP, a very interesting topic for farmers, due to the lines that establishes this Common Agricultural Policy oriented towards agroecology.
In this sense, among the topics that were discussed at the conference were ‘International olive growing, an overview, future, challenges and strategies’, ‘The new CAP’, ‘Aid for organic farms in the new CAP’, ‘Eco regimes in the new CAP’, ‘The digital field notebook: new requirement of the CAP’, ‘The solution for drought in olive cultivation: the infiltration device’ or ‘Fertilization of the olive grove: why not take advantage of the nutrients that the countryside gives us?’.
For his part, Mario Pereira, area director of Banco Santander, said that the bank had to be at this meeting, supporting the agri-food sector, more taking into account the factors that are affecting it, such as weather conditions, the lack of supplies or rising prices. “Today we want to be an active and supportive part, in which farmers feel supported by the entity, and that they can feel supported in the issue of financing, training or the CAP, which is so important at this time,” he indicated. .
