SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Dec. 1 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Government Council of the Canary Islands approved this Thursday aid for the amount of 12.4 million for the recovery of the primary sector affected by the consequences of the volcanic eruption on the island of La Palma.
Of these funds, 9.5 million are earmarked for banana plantations in the Aridane Valley, while 2.9 million are intended to cover holders of farms other than bananas, such as tropical and subtropical bananas, vines, proteas or vegetables, in addition to the cattle farms damaged by the volcano.
The eruption that occurred on September 19, 2021 in the Cumbre Vieja area, in the municipality of El Paso, generated serious devastating effects both in the affected areas and on the island in general, mainly in the towns of El Paso, Los Llanos Aridane and Tazacorte, destroying a diversity of crops and farms, and leaving a large part of the palm population without income.
According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries of the Government of the Canary Islands, the most affected sector is agriculture and within this, the cultivation of bananas, since it is the one that occupies the largest cultivated area.
In this crop there is a potential risk of damage based on several scenarios that are compatible.
Among these examples, the banana plots totally or partially buried under the lava stand out, plots that wither due to the lack of irrigation due to the destruction of the existing networks by the eruption, production losses and indirect losses.
The rest of the crops affected, such as tropical and subtropical farms, vines, proteas and vegetables, have also seen their incomes decrease.
In accordance with the above, it is necessary to process aid immediately to alleviate the exceptional and irreversible loss of income that the banana sector on the island of La Palma is suffering as a result of this natural catastrophe.
