SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 4 Apr. (EUROPE PRESS) –
The Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries of the Cabildo de Tenerife, Javier Parrilla, reported this Monday that Tenerife has increased its cultivated area by 1,119 hectares, reaching 18,738, according to data recently published by the regional government in the ‘Map of Crops of the Canary Islands’.
Disaggregated by category and group, it can be seen how the increase in orchards is focused on fallow land, while the increase in fruit trees is mainly linked to subtropical trees, such as avocado.
In addition, they increase cereals, legumes and fodder, collects a note from the corporation.
Likewise, the irrigated area has been expanded by 520.2 hectares, which is fundamentally linked to the increase in orchards (454.5 hectares) and fruit trees (535.3 hectares), and has increased or begun to graze on agricultural land.
On the contrary, the results of the study reflect a significant reduction in the area without cultivation (abandoned), which is due, in large part, to the increase in crops linked to orchards and fruit trees, as well as the entry into cultivation of ancient wastelands.
Within the cultivated area, the main reductions are focused on vineyards and tomatoes, for which “cleansing measures are already being taken that will generate better and greater productivity in the future,” Parrilla details.
The insular head of the primary sector highlights the importance of this study, “which allows knowing the reality of the agricultural area of the Canary Islands and will serve as the basis for promoting more accurate and effective agricultural policies in Tenerife.”
In this sense, he recalls that between 2007 and 2019 the island registered a decrease of 7,000 hectares, “but little by little, thanks to the efforts of this government group, recovery has begun.”
In line with the above, the Minister highlights that this year the Cabildo will launch a call for aid for the recovery and cultivation of abandoned land, which will have a budget of 48,730 euros.
In the same way, he emphasizes the ‘Agrojoven Awards’, endowed with 20,000 euros, and the José Luis Porcuna agri-food scholarships, for which an item of 21,600 euros has been allocated.
According to the report, orchards continue to be the predominant cultivated area in Tenerife (43% of the total), followed by bananas (20%), vineyards (15.6%) and fruit trees (12.7%).
Ornamental crops are limited to 1.9% and tomatoes maintain the negative trend that had already been detected since previous campaigns, and currently stand at 0.5%.
