Highlighted

Green light to Catalonia's Strategy for Generational Renewal in Farming

The document outlines the framework for renewing agricultural companies and supporting new generations interested in joining the agricultural sector, whether in existing family businesses or starting new ones. The strategy aims to ensure that these ventures are economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable. 

The plan includes a 2023-2027 Action Plan that details various programs, projects, and actions to be undertaken by Catalan organizations working on generational renewal and agricultural entrepreneurship. You can find the 35 specific actions intended to be implemented here.

More agri-food news

#Innovation tools for agricultural spaces

The Agrarian Test Area of Vall del Ges, Orís and Bisaura is presented
The initiative facilitates the progressive process of setting up new farms and has been subsidized through the BCN Smart Rural project.
(ARCA)

Castellolí joins the Agricultural Park of the Conca d'Òdena
It is the first municipality in Anoia that is part of two unique agricultural areas: that of Montserrat and that of the Conca d'Òdena.
(Castellolí City Council)

Esparreguera is already part of Montserrat Rural Park
This unique agricultural space was born in 2019 as an instrument of cooperation and exchange to promote agricultural activity and preserve the rural character of the territory's municipalities.
(Esparreguera City Council)

#Agriculture and nature

Catalonia overcomes the barrier of 5,000 operators doing ecological production in 2022
According to the new report on organic agricultural production by Catalonia, the most developed organic crop in the territory is grapevine, which, with more than 29,000 hectares, represents 51.2% of the total vineyard in Catalonia.
(Government of Catalonia)

#Managed forests

Eight donkeys to prevent fires in Valldoreix
Animals from the Can Domènech farmhouse will help keep the town's forests clean in a five-hectare enclosure.
(Sant Cugat Media)

The Barcelona neighborhood of Nou Barris awaits the sheep grazing with open arms
The Parc de Collserola is managing the recruitment of a shepherd with a forecast to start in the coming months. The agreement will last for two years, extendable for two more years.
(Betevé)

Rural communities play a key role in fire prevention
This is demonstrated by two scientific articles from an investigation by the Forestry Science and Technology Center of Catalonia.
(Arrels)

#Agrodiversity

The Nature Conservation Network formalizes the purchase of its first property
In the agricultural part of the farm, it is planned to plant about 1,500 fruit trees corresponding to 250 traditional varieties of county de l'Anoia that are currently at risk of disappearing. The purpose is to be able to use these traditional varieties as elements of agricultural diversification in a context of climate change that leads to the need to recover food sovereignty.
(Sostenible)

#Agricultural transformation

Spigoladors expands the field of action
The entity that fights against food waste will grow with a new 1,000 m2 workshop.
(El Punt Avui)

#Waste and food waste

The Orgànica Circular Mataró project uses the remains of school canteens as fertilizer for the crops of the Cinc Sénies
It is an experience of circularity that, from awareness and community involvement, treats waste as a resource and returns it with a new role in the circuit of production and consumption.
(Sostenible)

#Innovation

The Barcelona Provincial Council promotes a system of virtual enclosures recognized by the Food Technological Innovation Awards
The rancher Xavier Quirante, beneficiary of the first pilot test to control the herds with the mobile phone and remove the electric wires, has been awarded as a finalist in the Agricultural Exploitation modality.
(BCN Smart Rural)

The UOC Rural awards recognize the innovative outlook of young university students
The Open University of Catalonia (UOC) has decided to award the first UOC Rural Awards "as a commitment to rural development and territorial cohesion". And for this reason, it has recognized final degree and master's theses that seek to highlight the rural world and solve the current challenges facing the countryside.
(Arrels)

#Agro-food training

The Agricultural Schools begin the pre-registration period for the training cycles for the next academic year  
The pre-registrations for the training cycles of medium degree will be carried out until May 15 and the higher degree will end on June 1.
(Department of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda)

Pol·len edits a choral work to promote school education in agroecology
'Land of learning Twelve beautiful stories of School Agroecology in Catalonia' is a collection that allows you to know, from the educational dimension, food production initiatives in Catalonia.
(Sostenible)

#Agrifood marketing

Measures are implemented to enhance the Montserrat Rural Park brand
The Montserrat Rural Park has begun to conduct a study in the businesses that are part of it to publicize the products of the territory and thus implement measures to spread the brand of this unique agricultural space.
(Montserrat Rural Park)

#Agrifood communication

A new reality competition on TV3 is looking for 10 urbanites to pair up with 10 ruralites
The selection process begins to participate in the new TV3 contest, a reality show in which ten urbanites will form a couple with ten ruralites with the aim of competing together and becoming the best pair of farmers in Catalonia.
(CCMA)

A documentary recovers the history and memory of the Montserrat slaughterhouses
'Roques', produced by the Bagen collective El Brogit, gives the floor to the last farmers who started the market.
(Regió 7)

The Unió de Pagesos Foundation creates a literary competition to bring the countryside and the city closer together
The Amics i Amigues de la Pagesia project will reward those poems and micro-stories that talk about the confluence between the countryside and the city.
(Arrels)

The Rural Life Museum claims the invisible tasks of women
'Tros de dona' is a large-format exhibition around which many of the space's activities will be organized this year.
(Arrels)

#Tourism

New guide for the creation of agri-food tourism experiences
Barcelona Provincial Council has published the 'Practical guide for the creation of tourist experiences for producers, processors and companies in the food sector', which aims to give tools and knowledge to owners, managers and professionals in the productive sector to convert its agri-food resources in tourism products and services.
(Land Products Network)

Local vegetables as gastronomic emblems
The products of the Lower Llobregat Agrarian Park star in an increasing number of agritourism events.
(El Punt Avui)

Lactófils, the Dairy Route, is launched, with unique experiences for all citizens
A total of 18 proposals, ranging from shops to tastings, workshops, educational or restaurant experiences, are part of a new tourist initiative that is subdivided into three territorial routes according to the proximity between experiences.
(Department of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda)

#Agrarian alerts

Warning cry against wild boars
The overpopulation of wild boars in the county worries Valais farmers. "Ubunto_19_ubuntol farming is a problem", says Joaquim Cassà, countyl coordinator of Union of Farmers.
(Línia Vallès)

#Interviews

Pol Dunyó: "I like that my work is not expendable"
At El Mosaic, located between Òrrius and Vilassar de Dalt and surrounded by the beautiful landscapes of the Serralada Litoral Park, they grow organic and seasonal vegetables with the help of horses. The founders of the Maresmenca initiative, Pol Dunyó and Xavier Roqué, have joined their two projects to work together. In addition, Pol has a writer's side that he nurtures with his work as a farmer.
(BCN Smart Rural)

Fátima Brunet: "Our products have a real price, it's the others that are too cheap"
Fruits del Secà is a family organic farming business run by Joan Prat and Fàtima Brunet in Sant Pere Sallavinera, a small town in county de l'Anoia. The couple has been converting the family's land and every day they try to innovate in the production of cereals and legumes.
(BCN Smart Rural)

Rubèn Parera: "If the farmer wants to make a good living, he must be empowered"
Finca Parera, in Sant Llorenç d'Hortons, is run by four partners with dedication and passion. We talk to the winemaker responsible for the natural wines they produce reaching the world.
(BCN Smart Rural)

Neus Monllor: "The first step for the agricultural relief is that the companies that are active now have viability and resist"
Interesting interview with a leading agro-social consultancy on agricultural relief. Originally from Alicante, he trained at Catalonia and now works from Biscay.
(Agrocultura)

David Torrelles: "The organic food sector in Catalonia is a state leader"
This producer of organically grown sweet fruit in Vilanova de Segrià has served since 2019 as president of the Catalan Council for Ecological Agricultural Production (CCPAE), the public corporation responsible for the control and certification of organic agri-food products from Catalonia.
(Vida Sana)

Oriol Rovira: "My dream is to be able to retire as a farmer"
Oriol Rovira was born and raised in a farming family. Now, at twenty-seven years old, he is at the head of Mas Terricabras, an agricultural-livestock operation of many generations.
(VilaWeb)

Jordi Salbanyà: "Thinking that forests are untouchable brings problems"
This doctor of law, who specializes in environmental law and natural resources, believes that it is necessary to put forests in the spotlight in a year when the lack of rain means that a particularly tough fire campaign is expected.
(Arrels)

Asier Larrañaga: "The role of extensive livestock farming is fundamental when it comes to managing and reducing the vulnerability to burning forests"
The sub-inspector of the Forestry Operations Reinforcement Group (GRAF) of the Government of Catalonia Fire Department has always been passionate about nature. At the age of 19 he left Bilbao to study forestry engineering in Lleida and began to dedicate himself professionally to the care and preservation of the forest.
(Montserrat Rural Park)
 

— BCN Smart Rural Editorial —