The Plan of Ecological Agriculture in Asturias is already underway
Governing Council of the Principality of Asturias yesterday approved the Strategic Plan for Organic Agriculture in order to support the development of this sector through specific support programs that encourage the establishment of new farmers and promoting the commercialization of products obtained from it.
Plan, which was presented yesterday by the Minister for Rural Affairs and Fisheries, Servanda Garcia will run for three years and will have a budget of 14.7 million euros. The counselor explained that it recognized the "importance" of organic production in the dual role of being a "sustainable" agriculture, which contributes to the care of the landscape and environment, and a system that produces quality food differently.
The plan aims to foster the development of organic agriculture and livestock production, processing and product development and the marketing and sales. It also advocates improving the level of consumer confidence, increasing the level of the sector, harmonization and strengthening of control mechanisms, promoting research and development related to production, promoting the structuring of the sector. Another objective is to find lines of specific aid to producers and processors of organic products.
The counselor of Asturias recalled that part of the Network of European Regions is Free of Transgenics and said that this, coupled with environmental conditions of Asturias makes organic production prone to undergo further development among farmers.
In 2005, there were registered with the Council of Ecological Agricultural Production in the Principality of Asturias (COPA), a total of 128 operators, of which 94 belong to the holding register and 34 to the Register of Manufacturers. The total area is about 2409 registered hectares of which 2227 are pasture and fodder linked to farms. It stresses that there are farms in 24 herds of cattle for beef and 5 dairy cattle herds with a total of 1394 head of cattle. In 2005, it sold 568,271 liters of organic milk and 141 calves were slaughtered.