The candidate of Nueva Canarias-Bloque Canarista (NC-BC) for Lanzarote and La Graciosa to the Parliament of the Canary Islands, Yoné Caraballo, has stated that he will take "real and executable initiatives" to the Chamber if he is elected in the elections of May 28. Caraballo has insisted on the "suffering" of the producers of the sweet potato of the jable.
He has also described as "scarce" the presence of active policies aimed at the primary sector and direct aid, protection and promotion of products of Canarian origin. “If there is an indigenous product that represents the idiosyncrasy of Lanzarote, it is our sweet potato, which, together with onions, barley or grapes, fed generations of Lanzarote residents,” explains Caraballo.
In this sense, he considers that "it has not been sufficiently protected by the different governments, which should promote its production and marketing on equal terms with other products."
Thus, the Nueva Canarias candidate for Parliament has demanded that the sweet potato from Lanzarote "have its own designation of origin, be treated in European and Canarian aid in the same way as other products such as the banana from La Palma or the tomato from Gran Canaria." To this end, he indicates that “the real production figures that are generated annually of sweet potato in Lanzarote, its export and its benefits in the market” must be clear.
“Having the real data, we may see that the sweet potato is not a residual or secondary product, but a product of great importance for the island's economy and the archipelago,” Caraballo stresses.
All in all, Yoné Caraballo also expresses the importance of sweet potato production for the conservation of the Jable region, which is increasingly unprotected and neglected. “By valuing the sweet potato, we will ensure that the Jable returns to being the natural landscape it always was, full of life and an incentive for the construction of the Lanzarote identity.”
Increase and democratize the cultivated area
In addition, Yoné Caraballo invites citizens to learn about the proposals that his formation carries in the electoral program for the regional and local elections in May regarding the primary sector. Among them, he highlights the commitment to exponentially increase the cultivated area in the next legislature, generating the conditions for young people to join agricultural, livestock and fishing activities.
In this way, Caraballo recalls that "only" 3.4% of the area for agricultural use is cultivated in Lanzarote, with half of this meager area being vineyards and irrigated crops. On the other hand, he also points to the "impossible" access to new farmland due to the high prices per square meter, "which have been around 120,476 euros per hectare according to Eurostat data, with the Canary Islands being the region with the most expensive price per hectare in the entire European Union."
That is why Caraballo will ask the next Government of the Canary Islands to launch a true “democratization plan” for farmland, with the aim of facilitating young farmers the development of this strategic economic activity.
“Lanzarote has gone in just four decades from being the granary of the Canary Islands to being practically without agricultural and livestock production. A real nonsense for our future,” says Caraballo.