\ In the previous certified seed campaign, 882 tonnes of cereals and legumes were purchased, 103 of which were for organic farming.
\ The Balearic Islands have one of the highest rates of use of certified seed, which guarantees the purity of the variety, a high level of germination, homogeneity and health.
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Certified cereal and legume seeds
The Consell de Govern, at the proposal of the Balearic Islands Institute for Agri-Food and Fisheries Research and Training (IRFAP), part of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and the Environment, has authorised the start of a 665,000 € spending file for the purchase of certified cereal and legume seeds for conventional and organic farming for the 2023-2024 agricultural season. These are seeds of wheat, oats, barley, triticale, pea and field bean.
It should be remembered that in recent years the IRFAP, formerly SEMILLA, has carried out various programmes to promote the use of certified cereal and legume seed. The use of certified seed implies a series of advantages for farmers and stockbreeders, such as seed guarantees in terms of specific purity, purity of the variety, high germination level, homogeneity, health, traceability of the genetic material and the guarantee of official labelling, among others. All of this contributes to the maintenance of extensive crops in the Balearic Islands and the public values associated with agricultural activity, such as food sovereignty, the fight against climate change, the maintenance of the landscape and the retention of CO2.
Rising prices
The geopolitical uncertainty and weather conditions of the past season have been passed on to the price of cereals, which is nevertheless on an upward trend, albeit a confused and volatile one. In detail, at the beginning of the season, the price of barley was 221 €/tm, which rose in 2022, due to the lack of supplies from COVID and the war in Ukraine, to 347 €/tm. 2023 started with a price of 325 €/tm, which has been falling throughout this year to 230 €/tm at the beginning of July 2023, to resume the upward trend in the last month, up to 250 €/tm this week. Therefore, for the 2023-2024 season, it has been decided that the budget for this programme will be 665,000 euros.
The necessary increase in the use of seed
Agriculture, Fisheries and Natural Environment see the need to increase the use of certified seeds to obtain a higher yield than other seeds, to maintain livestock farming, the cultivated area and, especially, the social and environmental values associated with it.
Balearic production of grain cereals, which has also become more expensive, is of the order of 50,000 tonnes, an insufficient quantity for the needs of the island’s livestock. This makes it necessary to import grain and feed from the mainland, with the consequent increase in the price of maritime transport.