The Council of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Water of the Canary Islands has approved the payment of the aid to producers of tomatoes for export, with a total of 6.3 million Euros to be granted in the framework of the Community Support Program for Agricultural Productions of the Canary Islands (POSEI).
The subsidies will go to 188 producers with 577 hectares of crops, who are affiliated to one of the Fruit and Vegetable Producer Organisations (OPFH).
The Council's strategy for the tomato export sector in the Canary Islands for the 2017-2020 period will be ready in a few months. The objective is to improve the producers' income by increasing the amount of aid per hectare, reducing the production costs and modernising the farms.
In 2015, the European Commission increased the aid per hectare cultivated from 7,000 to 11,000 Euro for this campaign and next year.
The Government of the Canary Islands has announced that it wants to consolidate this increase, aiming for 15,000 Euro, by reforming the POSEI, as well as by adding a number of changes in the Canary Rural Development Program (PDR) to provide support to investments that lead to improvements in the production costs.
Source: EFE