Manuela Lucas and Felipe Rodríguez receive two awards from UPA for their dedication to the world of agriculture
The generational change is one of the main problems presented by the agricultural sector. The majority of young people decide to take paths different from those of their parents due to the difficulties that the countryside is going through. The scarcity of water, the gap between the prices of origin and destination and the brief insurance coverage make the farms unviable, on many occasions.
Despite this, in different parts of the Region new producers are emerging who decide to continue with the family saga. One of these novice growers is Felipe Rodríguez, who this year has won the Young Farmer award granted by the Union of Small Farmers (UPA). “I decided not to continue studying and dedicate myself entirely to this job so that the effort of my parents would not fall on deaf ears,” he admits, although he warns of the “tumultuous” path that awaits him. “I know that in these times, dedicating oneself to agriculture is somewhat complicated, although I trust that one day society will understand the importance of this work,” explains the 22-year-old boy, who emphasizes that “we need water from the Transfer . Without it, we will not be able to survive.”
Rodríguez has much to learn from the experience of a lifetime dedicated to the field. This is the case of Manuela Lucas, an octogenarian who continues to carry out her tasks in the middle of the fruit trees and who this year also received a distinction from UPA for a lifetime dedicated to the field. “I am a retiree who continues to enjoy what my life has been like day after day,” she says.
“We need water from the Trasvase. Without it, we will not be able to survive in this work”, they warn
They are the two extremes: youth and seniority, inexperience and experience. A few days ago, Manuela Lucas and Felipe Rodríguez shook hands at the foot of the orchard in full bloom ‘thinning’ work. If the grandchildren of Manuela Lucas decided to continue with the family business, they would be the fourth generation of farmers, explains the octogenarian. It was the forties of the last century when Manuela was already helping her parents to harvest vegetables, which was what was grown in Cieza in those years.
“Those were very difficult times, in the middle of the war, and in which, fortunately, those of us who had land did not go hungry,” he recalls. “In the past, the field was much better valued.” Time and time again, this veteran farmer insists on the need to “help the sector, because it is the sustenance of everything else. Without farmers there is no raw material. More aid is needed for young people to continue and, perhaps, less politicians».
Meanwhile, and as long as her health condition allows it, Manuela Lucas will continue to work on her land “season after season”, because she does not contemplate abandoning the land that has given her everything.
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