Cooperation and innovation ot the agricultural field

The project

The Balearic agri-food industry has a small economic impact, low productivity and high processing costs, mostly due to the extra costs involved in being an island. As a result, competitiveness is lacking and profitability is less than the national average.

The scant importance the primary sector and agri-industry have on the GDP of the Balearic Islands have made it necessary to promote the use of innovative approaches that improve competitiveness.

Consequently, the purpose of the ‘Cooperation and innovation’ project is to fund measure 16 of the 2014–2020 Rural Development Programme to make new projects possible. Currently, all the funds in this aid line have already been committed and there is no fund availability for 2020. This means there are no new cooperation projects due to the lack of budget.

The solution to this problem is to have enough necessary funds to meet the needs of these new cooperating parties.

This measure will foster actions of design, production and/or the technological development of new products or agri-food processes, including preparation operations, tests and other tangible or intangible investments prior to the manufacturing or use of these new products or processes, with commercial purposes. It will also promote information and promotion actions of short marketing chains as a cooperation tool between the agents in the food chain. Lastly, projects focusing on improvements in the environment and the circular economy will also be fostered.