0
At the latest meeting of Ministers of Agriculture of the European Union, 15 member states supported the communication of the Spanish Minister, Luis Planas, who defended the need for the European Commission to adopt urgent and ambitious concrete measures to ensure the supply of fertilizers to farmers. This proposal complements the communication made by the Commission itself, which according to the Spanish Minister is a very good analysis of the situation but is not very ambitious and is not concrete enough.
Currently, there is a serious problem regarding the accessibility of fertilizers, since they have suffered a significant 149% price increase between September 2021 and September 2022 in the European Union - as a consequence of the high energy costs, since gas is an essential basic material for their manufacture.
In addition to facilitating immediate access to fertilizers, Spain is also committed to adopting medium and long-term measures to improve Europe's autonomy in the production and supply of fertilizers and to correct the dependence to date on gas and products manufactured in Russia. Likewise, initiatives should be taken to seek alternative sources in the circular economy, such as the recovery of nutrients from manure and slurry.
Among these measures in the medium and long term, the minister mentioned the promotion of new technologies and precision agriculture so that the rates applied are adjusted to the real needs of crops, and to promote those that fix nitrogen.
November 21, 2022/ MAPA/ Spain.
https://www.mapa.gob.es
