First Andalusian Center dedicated to the production of organic seeds
The town of Loja in Granada will have the first center dedicated to the collection and marketing of vegetable seed grown under organic production methods. This is reflected in the agreement signed by the Minister of Agriculture, Isaías Pérez Saldaña, and the mayor of the Municipality of Loja, Miguel Castilian.
Center of reproduction, training and promotion of traditional crop varieties for organic agriculture will become the premier provider of seed for this sector. It will be located in a rustic farm with an area of four hectares between the villages in the Hole and Stream, owned by the Foundation Board of Trustees of San Ramon and San Fernando. The launch of this project involves an investment of nearly € 300,000 of which half will be funded by the Ministry.
The Center will serve to further integration and autonomy of the production sector and to provide the Andalusian seed production. In this sense, the counselor pointed out that organic agriculture is a production system which avoids or excludes a large extent, the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, growth regulators and additives for animal feed.
Also, the representative of the Andalusian Government has stressed the importance of the sector in Andalusia, where slashing nearly half a million hectares devoted to such crops. Furthermore, the trend is still growing in a "spectacular" way for the countless advantages for consumers, EU requirements are moving in this direction.
Pérez Saldaña has stressed the "environmental benefits" of sector to seek a lesser impact on ecosystems and social production of healthy food, high quality and respect the environment and the contribution to the maintenance of rural economies.