Cristóbal de Vera, Minister of Agriculture of the Island Council of Fuerteventura: “The pandemic has accelerated the digitalization process in all areas”

Cristóbal de Vera, Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Waters of the Cabildo de Fuerteventura analyzed with Impulsa Startups how the health emergency influenced the production system. The counselor highlighted that “COVID-19 has greatly influenced traditional forms of marketing. With the closure of establishments, all marketing networks were cut, home deliveries were directly increased.”

The island councilor highlighted how the pandemic affected the world economy and assures that Fuerteventura was not immune to these consequences. Cristóbal de Vera assured that “the administration reacted and the channeling of production was fundamental, because in some way local production had to be released. The Cabildo de Fuerteventura established marketing lines for the island's production”.

The pandemic has undoubtedly accelerated the digitization process in all areas. Social networks went from being used to show your day to day, to “becoming a fundamental work tool for many freelancers and companies where it was really the only way to connect with the consumer, where they offer their product and where a method of Secure payment. All this leads to new marketing strategies that many of them have remained implanted. Some of the measures that were taken due to the situation have endured, such as ordering at home.” This process of digital transformation has also affected the value chain in the island's agri-food sector, such as helping to detect problems in the crop through new technologies.

Cristóbal de Vera, highlighted the problems currently suffered by the agricultural sector, “the pests that affect tomato crops and greenhouse cultivation. An effort is being made by farmers to make integrated treatments to combat these pests. The scarcity of water causes at some times of the year that the crop does not have the necessary vigor for the crop to be as good as it should be.”

In addition, the counselor assured that “greater coordination is necessary, to investigate and analyze the pests to make use of the startups and the necessary applications. In the end, what the crop wants is for it to be productive and efficient in order to later make a profit. And many times the farmer is alone, without direct advice”.

The Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Waters of the Cabildo de Fuerteventura stated that today, technology can be implemented in the primary sector to achieve greater benefits. In addition, he highlights that “people are being trained through the Canarian Institute of Agricultural Research, which has some important research developments in some crops.” He adds “the need to advance further in this process, in more traditional crops such as tomatoes.”

Cristóbal de Vera concludes by highlighting the importance of continuing to bet on the training of professionals who allow technology to be brought to the primary sector of the island, he assures that “for this reason we have had to use other resources such as training cycles to try to cover that part of the training need on the island of Fuerteventura. These courses, he adds, are approved by the Directorates of Agriculture of the Government of the Canary Islands”.