The increases in the amounts of the unitary aids to local agricultural production of POSEI, requested by the Government of the Canary Islands, have been approved and included in the POSEI 2026 program by the European Commission.
These modifications to the POSEI, which for 2026 has 243.96 million euros (206.32 million in community funding and 37.63 million corresponding to the additional allocation) earmarked for aid to the agricultural sector, imply increases in aid to sweet potato and tropical pineapple, as well as, in the field of livestock, to pig breeders. Furthermore, they entail the extension of aid to producers affected by the volcano eruption of Tajogaite in La Palma.
Regarding this program, the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food Sovereignty of the Government of the Canary Islands, Narvay Quintero, pointed out that «from the Canarian Executive we continue to demand from the EU an increase in the financial allocation of this program in line with the rise in production costs that ensures the future of our agricultural activity, as well as the maintenance of the legal structure of POSEI as an instrument with its own funding in the new Multiannual Financial Framework of the European Commission».
Among the products that see the amount of their unitary aid increased within the section for the commercialization of fruits, vegetables, roots and tubers, flowers and live plants harvested in the Canary Islands, is the sweet potato, with an increase of 16,67% in funding.
Furthermore, additional transitional measures have been introduced for producers of tropical pineapple, with the aim of ensuring minimum aid per hectare in compensation for the problems affecting this crop, affected by pests and diseases, as well as by the difficulties in accessing healthy plant material.
On the other hand, in the area of support for animal production, aid for the supply of breeding animals of pure or commercial breeds originating from the Canary Islands increases the unit aid per female, going from 250 to 305 euros per head, proportionally decreasing the maximum admissible number.
Concurrently, the number of eligible animals within the aid for swine breeding animals produced in the Canary Islands has increased.
Finally, in relation to the aid destined for producers affected by the volcanic eruption in La Palma, the Government of the Canary Islands has achieved that the European Commission authorizes a new extension of these aids to the agricultural sector, articulated through POSEI, fundamentally for the affected producers, until the year 2027.
