The Council of Tenerife will allocate this year 421,000 euros to promote actions to improve the supply of fodder for the island’s livestock population. This item is part of the Tenerife Fodder Plan, with which it is intended to promote fodder production, improve self-sufficiency and reduce uncertainty due to rising prices. This plan proposes the analysis of the viability of the potato affected by the Guatemalan moth as fodder for cattle feeding, the study of the fodder potential of native and foreign species, the use of the grass of the island’s golf courses and the establishment of pilot experiences, through which it is intended to select the most suitable forage species for the different agro-climatic zones of Tenerife.
These studies and pilot projects They will have a value of 140,000 euros. Added to these measures are training actions in the use and maintenance of machinery for the cultivation of fodder, a subsidy of 140,000 euros to the Tenerife Cereals Association (Acete) for the acquisition of machinery for the collection and treatment of cereals and a aid of 100,000 euros for the acquisition of machinery for forage production. The island councilor for Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Javier Parrilla, recalls that “the use of forage crops within crop rotations reduces the possibility of serious attacks by pests and diseases.” In addition, he points out that “its introduction can reduce the abandonment of agricultural land, both in traditional forage growing areas, and in new areas that have not been used for this until now.”
Javier Parrilla emphasizes that Livestock is “one of the strategic subsectors of the island’s primary sector, not only because it represents around 25 percent of the final agricultural value, but also because of the need to improve our food sufficiency, hence the importance of continuing to promote the business confidence of our ranchers and ranchers. The island manager of the primary sector also emphasizes that Tenerife’s meat production and dairy products have “a recognized quality at a regional, national and international level.”
