Planas confirms that the Government has implemented more than 277 million euros in aid and reconstruction works one year after the DANA

The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, during his visit to the areas affected by the DANA of October 2024

The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, highlighted the government's efforts to support the recovery of the agricultural sector affected by the DANA of October 2024, and emphasised the speed and effectiveness of the measures implemented. "It has been a great reconstruction effort, and we will continue it until the end," he said.

The minister reported that, to date, more than €277 million has been spent, including direct aid to farmers and stockbreeders (€190 million) and reconstruction work on rural roads, plots of land, and irrigation networks (€87.3 million), primarily focused on the Valencian Community, the worst affected region.

The €190 million includes €42.5 million that the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food will pay in November to 2,395 farmers and stockbreeders for loss of income as a result of damage to their infrastructure and €6.8 million to the owners of plots of land that will become hydraulic domain.

Planas stressed that the government honours its commitments. "We are doing what we had planned and we will continue to do so until the recovery is complete," he asserted, insisting that the goal is to ensure that not a single hectare of crops is lost as a result of the damage. The government plans to mobilise more than €400 million, including resources already implemented and those in progress, reflecting the scale of the effort to recover the agricultural sector after the disaster.

Direct aid has benefited 9,136 farmers and stockbreeders to compensate them for lost income due to damage to their production and a further 6,630 for damage to their agricultural infrastructure. In addition, 107 rice farmers in La Albufera who were unable to plant crops this season have received compensation, as well as 725 farmers whose plots were located near waterways and whose land will be lost as agricultural land and converted into public hydraulic domain.

Measures to support the Valencian agricultural sector

In the province of Valencia, the ministry has mobilised €254 million to support the agricultural sector, representing more than 90% of the total budget allocated to the area. Of that amount, €171 million correspond to direct aid to farmers and stockbreeders, while €83 million have been allocated to repair rural roads, irrigation infrastructure, and farms.

Thanks to this effort, nearly 2,000 kilometres of rural roads have already been repaired, with certified work valued at €30.7 million in 90 municipalities.

Furthermore, irrigation projects are progressing well, with nearly €22 million spent, allowing for the completion of repairs to 16 irrigation communities, while another 87 are still underway.

In terms of affected farms, repair work has already begun on 1,612 farms in 36 municipalities, of which 417 are fully restored. To date, the investment executed exceeds €30 million euros.

With regard to nurseries, two nurseries have been repaired, and work is underway on nine more, with a cumulative investment of more than €7 million.

Among the main actions in Valencia are:

• Income support: more than €64.5 million paid to 8,500 farmers for loss of production.
• Aid to the Albufera rice farmers: €395,000 to 107 beneficiaries who were unable to plant crops.
• Farm repairs: more than €38 million paid to 4,100 farms, to which another €41.9 million will be added in November for 2,374 additional beneficiaries.
• Farms near to waterways: nearly €6.9 million for 700 farms.
• Supplementary aid to agricultural insurance: more than €10 million allocated to 2,100 producers, compensating for the excess not covered by insurance.

Planas also recalled that agricultural insurance has paid out €52.4 million in all the affected areas (compensation to 3,192 farmers), and insisted that insurance is "the best instrument for managing the risks inherent to this activity". The majority of these compensation payments relate to persimmon and citrus farms, although greenhouse vegetable and ornamental plant producers are also included.

The minister stressed that the DANA has highlighted the climate emergency and the need for swift and coordinated responses. To this end, the Government has proposed a State Pact to tackle the Climate Emergency, in which the primary sector plays a central role in ensuring food security and regional sustainability.

Visit to affected areas

During his tour of the Valencian Community, Luis Planas visited various key recovery sites. The day began at the Herfesa Nurseries in Torrent, where the minister was able to see the work carried out by the Tragsa Group in the greenhouses and the work in progress in the filter and fertiliser plant.

He then travelled to Alzira to visit the reconstruction work on the Soriano road, where he assessed both the asphalted section and pending section, located on the cattle track.

The minister's agenda includes meetings with the mayors of the Ribera Alta and Ribera Baja regions and with agricultural organisations.

Non official translation