There are fewer and fewer farmers in Spain. In some communities such as Aragón, the industry has lost almost 1,000 professionals in the last five years as a result of the aging of producers, where more than 50% are over 55 years old. The result is a progressive abandonment of cultivated areas that seriously endangers the continuity of agricultural activity in our country due to the lack of generational change in the industry.

The Valencian community is where most farmland is abandoned. Specifically, the Valencian Community makes up 15.7% of the agricultural land that has ceased to be cultivated in the whole of Spanish territory, which means that it has lost 1 out of every 5 hectares in recent times, that’s to say, that 20% of the cultivated area has been abandoned.

To the problem that young people leave rural areas, we must add the increase in production prices such as fertilizers, electricity, gasoline, plus the problem that large companies prefer to import some products from abroad because the price is lower. These factors are leading the agriculture to a complicated situation, that can put Spanish food self-sufficiency in danger.

Currently, food self-sufficiency in Spain has greatly decreased compared to the first half of the 20th century, when self-sufficiency was at 90%.

I personally hope that a solution can be found to the problems of agriculture in Spain because it has always been an important field in the country’s economy.

Bruno