Spain: Farmers in Sa Pobla abandon land for winter potatoes

The  Poblera potato crisis  has reached a point of no return. Farmers have decided not to plant more than 500 plots of land for the winter harvest, which is usually planted in the summer. This massive abandonment of crops, which farmers expect to worsen further in the upcoming export season, is the direct consequence of a sector that feels hemmed in by a lack of support, unfair prices, and ineffective agricultural policies.

Abandonment, a consequence of an announced crisis

The decision to stop planting is not a protest measure, but an act of pure economic desperation.  Farmers,  who have been warning about the situation for years, have seen how the devastating nematode plague, combined with restrictive European regulations that have left them without effective weapons to combat it, has made cultivation unviable. Production has plummeted, and operating costs can no longer be covered, leading the sector to a state of "ruin" from which it sees no way out.

This crisis in the countryside confirms the grim predictions already brewing in Europe in 2023. Technical reports allegedly hidden by the European Commission already predicted that the 2030 Agenda and its focus on radical green policies without structural support would lead to the abandonment of farms.

The abandonment of land is also a direct response to the lack of concrete solutions from the administrations, despite recent meetings with senior officials such as the  Minister of Agriculture , Fisheries and the Natural Environment, Joan Simonet, and the Director General of Agriculture, Fernando Fernández.

The farmers insist that the problem has not yet been resolved, nor will it be with one-off aid, which, moreover, "always goes to the same people." Their demands are clear and concise: "We want to live off what we produce, for production to be profitable. We want to receive a fair price when we deliver our produce to the warehouse."

The farmers’ powerlessness translates into fierce criticism of a management system they consider out of touch with their reality. "We feel supervised, not defended," they say, feeling that proposed solutions, such as crop rotation, are unviable for them. The abandonment of these more than 500 plots of land for winter potatoes is the first step in what, according to the farmers, will be an even more drastic end for the sector if real measures are not taken to guarantee its survival.