He Council of Tenerife allocates a total of 150,000 euros to subsidize breeder associations for the recovery and improvement of native livestock breedsas stated in the bases published by the Island Corporation.
The deadline for submitting applications to access these subsidies will remain open until August 11, and interested entities can have the application model, as well as the full text of the bases, at the Citizen Services Center of this Cabildo, as well as through the electronic office https:/sede.tenerife.es.
He Primary Sector counselorValentine gonzalezexplains that this initiative addresses the need to “protect and recover native breeds, which constitute an important part of the animal genetic heritage of Canary Islands and of Tenerife”.
The counselor adds that “our island territories, possibly due to the distance from the continental ones, and the isolation derived from our insular condition, has a wide catalog of autochthonous livestock breeds.” On this issue, González stresses that “the recovery and protection of our autochthonous breeds also pays attention to the assessment that these have resistance and rusticity characteristics that give them a great capacity to adapt to our environment, resistance capacity against diseases, and cover the demands of the consumer, oriented to products quality resulting from production systems that respect the environment and animal welfare”.
On the other hand, autochthonous breeds “contribute to rural development, encourage population fixation in rural areas and, ultimately, are essential for the sustainable development of the livestock sector.” The procedure for granting subsidies is carried out through non-competitive competition, distributing the maximum global amount available among all the applicant breeder associations that meet the requirements established in the bases.
The Association of Cattlemen of Tenerife (Agate) organized until last Sunday at the Casa del Ganadero de La Laguna, on the Camino de San Diego, the I great agricultural fair of Tenerife, Fagate, on the occasion of the festivities in honor of San Benito Abad. The event was actually celebrating its 44th edition as part of the celebration of the most rural Aguere. 400 head of cattle of the Canarian Bovine Breed and 1,000 of Sheep and Goats participated, as well as horses and donkeys. A very special day to exhibit these precious animals and the meeting of the farmers. Competitions of canary dams and exhibitions of dairy products were the framework of the disclosure to preserve genetic heritage, one of Agate’s fundamental tasks. The basta cow and the palmera sheep, of which barely 200 specimens remain, are two clear examples of native Canarian breeds in danger of extinction. Within the framework of the fair, visitors received information about the delicate moment they are going through. This subsidy from the Cabildo de Tenerife represents an important aid for farmers and for the sector in general.
