The President of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Oswaldo Betancort, has sent an official letter to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fishing and Food Sovereignty of the Canary Islands Government requesting that vine growers on the island be exempted from the minimum yield requirement of 400 kilos per hectare for the 2025 campaign of Action I.3 Aid per hectare for the maintenance of vines intended for the production of wines with Protected Designation of Origin (D.O.P) as outlined in the POSEI.
The request is based on the drastic reduction of the island’s harvest in 2025, which has already seen losses exceeding 60% due to poor budding and high temperatures, according to data collected by the Cabildo.
“It is our duty to stand by the vine growers, whether professional or not, because we are talking not only about agricultural economy, but about a crop that is also identity, heritage, and landscape conservation in Lanzarote,” highlighted Oswaldo Betancort. “The exceptional situation facing the island’s vineyards requires sensitivity and institutional commitment. We cannot allow our vine growers to be penalised in accessing vital aid for their sustainability on top of suffering a historic decline in production.”
The island president has also stressed “the importance of this request being processed urgently, as the POSEI framework itself allows for this exception to be applied at the discretion of the body administering the aid”. Furthermore, he reminded that “the Cabildo of Lanzarote will submit the Annual Report in January regarding incidents and damages caused to agricultural productions, a document that will support the requested exceptional nature with technical data”.
Betancort trusts in the “sensitivity and commitment” of the regional Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Sovereignty, Narvay Quintero, to address this request that affects a strategic sector in Lanzarote. “I am convinced that the Canary Islands Government will understand the magnitude of this problem and will propose a just measure for those who keep a unique agricultural landscape alive through the cultivation of world-class grapes,” he concludes.
With this and other measures enacted in recent months, the Cabildo of Lanzarote highlights “its commitment to the interests of the island’s agriculture to ensure the continuity of a crop that, beyond its economic value, constitutes one of the pillars of the island’s cultural and landscape identity”.
