The beekeepers will lose 1,3 million euros of bottoms comunitarios by the cuts of the Ministry of Agriculture

The Coordinator of Organisations of Agriculturalists and Graziers (COAG) complaint that the Spanish beekeepers could lose until 2,6 million euros of bottoms comunitarios by the cuts of the central and autonomic Administration in the games of the National Program Apícola (PNA).

The European Commission approved for Spain in the trienio 2011-2013 a total quantity of 11 million annual euros, what means that in each one of these exercises our country would have to contribute to the National Program Apícola a total of 5,5 million euros, of which 2.750 millions would correspond to the Ministry of Agriculture and another similar part to the CC.AA. However, in the budgets 2012 the Ministry of Agriculture has recessed the state contribution (of 5,5 million euros to 4,2), by what the EU will recess his cofinanciación in the same measure (-1,3 million euros). If the percentage of cut is the same in the autonomies (-24%), and everything aims to that it was like this, the beekeepers will lose more than 2,6 million euros in the present exercise. Of course, the regions apícolas more affected by the cut are those that have greater number of beehives and professional beekeepers: Valencia, Castilla-León and Extremadura, gone on down Castile-La Mancha, Andalucia, Catalonia and Aragon.

In front of this situation, COAG demands to the Ministry of Agriculture and to the CC.AA. That they engage to fund all what corresponds them to reach the 11 million euros of the budget approved by Brussels for the Spanish apiculture. “More still if we take into account the complicated productive situation that crosses the Spanish apiculture by the effect of the drought that, joined to the fall of prices in origin by the negative impact in the market of the honey of the crops transgénicos (corn MON 810) and the increasing mortandad of colonies of bees by the toxicity of the insecticides 'neonicotinoides' used each day more in numerous crops, place to the exploitations apícolas underneath of the threshold of the profitability”, has signalled José Luis González, manager of the sector apícola of COAG.

Photo: Doug Venator.