Feb 26th 2012
At the Fifteenth General meeting of the AVA (Valencian Farmers Association) Xàbia branch, local farmers highlighted the difficulty of continuing the cultivation of orange trees, while a proposal to promote organic farming was tabled as a solution to prevent land being lost.
The local association listed the various problems facing an industry that is characterized by working the land for love rather than money, because the orange groves are not profitable. This is leading to the abandonment of fields, which in turn leads to other problems such as growth of "bardisas", a kind of hedge that invades the roads, impeding traffic, and the proliferation of wild, problematic animals such as boars and rats. The poor condition of the surface of some roads is another difficulty farmers face when attempting to access their fields.
The President of AVA-ASAJA Valencia, Cristóbal Aguado, addressed the issue in Jávea from a general point of view, noting that all Valencian and Spanish agriculture is suffering because of imports from Morocco which are priced more competitively because they have fewer controls and labour which includes children who receive less than 1 € per day. Sometimes foreign oranges appear falsely labeled as Valencian.
Aguado said the national association is fighting to defend the Spanish agriculture against that which comes from outside the EU in Brussels.
Councillor for Agriculture, Juan Luis Cardona , spoke of the commitment of the local executive to revive agriculture in Xàbia through supportive policies and innovative projects. Next year a budget for local agriculture will be allocated for the first time.
Another original project, called Terra Xàbia is to be carried out by Fomento Económico, along with Creama. This is to create a bank of abandoned plots to encourage agriculture, renting them to people who want to work the land. This not only encourages activity in this primary sector, but also keeps the land clean and free of vermin. The idea includes the promotion of organic farming through a training program.
Another line of action is the creation of a Xàbia brand for local agricultural products, to assist in marketing.
Mayor Joseph Chulvi spoke of his firm intention to complete the integrated water cycle system of Xàbia, so that water from the sewerage treatment plant is used to irrigate the fields of the Pla. This is something that may not require much investment because analyses show that the treated water has sufficient quality to be reused if chlorine is added. In terms of ducts, there is the possibility of optimizing existing infrastructure and pipelines to exploit them for this purpose . From XAD:
La agriculture ecológica....
