The Minister of Agriculture closes the XXII National Conference on Beekeeping which highlights the fundamental role of bees in agriculture
The Community will soon publish the Help for Beekeeping Support, within the Rural Development Program (PDR), with a budget of 2,059,000 euros. The objective of these grants is to continue supporting the sector in the Region of Murcia, given the importance of the bee in the conservation of the environment since it is the main insect pollinator of vegetation.
Beekeepers who take this measure must have 20 percent of their hives in areas of environmental interest (10 percent more than 1,000). With this aid, the Ministry of Water, Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries wants to avoid a loss of genetic heritage of indigenous queens, with very high predicted mortality, and a drop in honey production in the Region.
The counselor Miguel Ángel del Amor closed the XXII National Conference on Beekeeping of COAG where he declared that «in the Region there are 766 registered beekeepers and we have 105,137 bee hives». Del Amor highlighted the fundamental role of bees in pollination and therefore in crops and agriculture, «six out of ten fruits and vegetables that we consume today would disappear by not being pollinated.»
Also, the Minister stressed that the regional government has already made the total payment of the National Program of Aid to Beekeeping (APA), with an amount of 319,000 euros, for technical assistance and modernization of the beekeeping activity. These grants are co-financed at 50 percent with Feaga funds, 25 percent with funds from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, and the remaining 25 with funds from the Autonomous Community.