Por Ismael Buendia 
The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, and Rural Development, Ramón Fernández-Pacheco, has highlighted that a total of 2,910 applications have been submitted for an amount of almost 160 million euros for the call for grants for young farmers in Andalusia.
In statements to the media, Fernández-Pacheco emphasized the high participation in this grant call «which has exceeded expectations» and stated that «the first requirement that the Andalusian government wants to ensure is that young people have the opportunity they deserve to make agricultural activity profitable.»
In this regard, he stated that «now all applications will need to be reviewed and both applicants and financial amounts adjusted, for which the Ministry will have to make an economic effort to reach everyone.»
Thus, the Minister acknowledged that «although each application needs to be analyzed, the goal of incorporating nearly 3,000 more young people into the field to enable them to launch their entrepreneurial projects has been achieved.» «Young people are the backbone of our region, and it is the obligation of the authorities to serve as a springboard for them to develop their life project and do so, here, in our land,» he added.
By provinces, Almería is the province with the most applications received at 516; followed by the province of Jaén with 478, Granada with 457, Seville with 436, Córdoba with 407, Huelva with 272, the province of Cádiz with 214, and lastly, Málaga with a total of 130 applications received.
Almost a thousand applications from women
Breaking down the applications by gender, a total of 1,908 are from men, 988 have been requested by women, and 14 are from legal entities. In the case of the male gender, the province of Jaén accounts for 73% of the applications, while in the case of the female gender, Huelva is the province with the highest number of applications from women at 47%.
In general terms, it is important to highlight the high participation in this grant call by women, as more than a quarter of the applications from all Andalusian provinces are from women. «This data once again reflects the significant role that women play in the rural and business world,» concluded the Minister.