Information Transfer in the Agricultural Sector in Spain

Abstract

This article examines the structures of information transfer to the agricultural (production) and agro-alimentary (transformation and commercialization of the products) sector within Spain. An historical perspective is provided to better illustrate the reality and complexity of Spain with regard to the systems of agrarian extension, agricultural research, the resources provided by Spain's central administration, and the use of information by related enterprises.

The Service of Agrarian Extension appeared in Spain in the 1950s, and new political-administrative structures (agribusiness associations, cooperatives) were founded when Spain became a democratic nation in the late 1970s and with the arrival of electronic information, largely in the 1990s. We describe the research and technological centers supporting innovation in the agro-alimentary sector and the communication media dedicated to the agricultural sector. The article illustrates that the systems of agricultural information in Spain have been largely derived from initiatives of the Public Administration, with few private initiatives.

KEYTERMS:

• agro-alimentary sector
• information transfer
• Service of Agrarian Extension
• Spain

Notes

The process of decentralizing Spain politically into autonomous communities was by no means a simple task, and many problems arose. The transferences led to a situation in which legal regulation in each one of the 17 regions was different in many cases, generating problems within one state with specific norms for each territory. Some parties responsible for agricultural business organizations have requested that certain competences be given back to the central government, such as water and animal health. They explain that, for example, a livestock owner who wants to sell his calves to buyers from other regions must fulfill different prerequisites, depending on the region they are sold to.

The Spanish Fund for Agrarian Guarantee or Fondo Español de Garantía Agraria (FEGA) is an autonomous organism, ascribed to the Ministry of Agriculture, which processes agricultural and livestock policy, and whose main function is to manage the aid that comes through the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). In Spain, the competences of the region make each one become a managing and paying agent for this aid, even though the State, through the FEGA, carries out the activities of coordination and centralization of the information before the European Union. The CAP funds are financed by means of the FEAGA (Fondo Europeo Agrícola de Garantía Agraria) and FEADER (Fondo Europeo Agrícola de Desarrollo Rural).

The term Extensión comes from the service instituted in the United States, the Cooperative Extension Service, borrowing the term extension from the English tradition, where it was used to define the activities carried out by a University beyond its campus (Jones, 1981). In Spain, this term has been substituted by others, such as divulgation or propaganda, used in the denomination of different public organisms. Sánchez de la Puerta (1996) points out that in the 18th century the then minister Campomanes used the term Extensión for the transmission of new agricultural knowledge.

Before, in 1953, the Pact of Madrid was signed. This meant the partial international recognition of the Regime of General Francisco Franco. The Pact contained bilateral agreements in defense, economic cooperation, and technical assistance, and allowed for the establishment of U.S. military bases in Spain.