Friday, May 22, 2009

Cotton returns to the Vega Baja

They abandoned growing cotton in the Vega Baja eighteen years ago in favour of other more profitable crops. In the eighties, cotton production relied heavily upon manpower and irrigation. Now, with mechanisation and decent irrigation, it is set to make a return.

The target is to have one thousand hectares of cotton growing by September 2010. As an experiment, 10,000 square metres of land at Daya Nueva have been planted with ten different varieties of cotton (American, the superior Egyptian and hybrids) to see which suits the land best.

There is a lot at stake for those agriculturists who choose to be involved. Thirty million Euros of non refundable aid have been set aside for the project. In total, Spain has been assigned a quota of 48,000 hectares with a subsidy of 1,400 Euros per hectare by the European Union.

Yesterday, at a presentation of the project in the campus Desamparados, mayors and councillors from Almoradí, Redován, Daya Nueva, San isidro, Orihuela, Bigastro, Guardamar, Rojales, Benejúzar, Granja de Rocamora and Catral showed great interest in the sheme.

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