The President of the Government of the Azores announced today the strategic option of directing funds to strengthen the structural capacity of Azorean agriculture, increasing its competitiveness and farmers' income in the Region.
 
"We are aware that the current situation should also lead us to allocate available funds to strengthen the structural capacity of our agriculture, increase its competitiveness and, consequently, increase farmers' income," Vasco Cordeiro.
 
The President of the Government spoke at the opening of the 4th Fall Holstein Frisian Contest promoted by the São Miguel Agricultural Federation. On the occasion, he restated that the Government "is ready, committed and available" to maintain a dialogue with institutions representing the agricultural sector, which has yield concrete results at various levels.
 
After stressing that the allocation of 45 euros per cow was a commitment fulfilled in 2015 and 2016, Vasco Cordeiro announced that the Government has recently anticipated the payment of 55 million Euros of aid under POSEI and PRORURAL+ to 15 thousand farmers in the Region.
 
"We will use the mechanisms allowed by Community rules, providing a significant amount of Community aid available as soon as possible. This is fundamental to the liquidity of farmers and, consequently, to our agriculture," said the government official.
 
At the opening of the event, the President of the Government considered that the future of the regional agricultural sector is also based on concrete and objective data, namely the attractiveness of this activity among young Azoreans.
 
"We should mention that 77 projects for new farms owned by young farmers have already been approved under PRORURAL + programme. The amount of public support for private investment exceeds three million Euros. We expect, next month, the approval of another 92 projects to support the investment in the modernisation of farms amounting to five million Euros, which will also allow the installation of another 13 young farmers," said the government official.
 
As an example of the measures and policies developed to support the sector, Vasco Cordeiro pointed out that, under PROAMAF, the Government has already paid more than 1 million Euros under this support programme. It will also include the support for investment in the electrification of farms, which will be excluded from the "De Minimis" rule.
 
"Regarding SAFIAGRI III programme, the Government has already 1.2 million Euros. We are aware that are still sums to pay and we are working to do so as soon as possible," said the government official.
 
Vasco Cordeiro also pointed out that the Regional Government expects that the difference in the price of milk paid in the Azores will converge gradually and steadily. Moreover, the President of the Government ensured that the Plan and Budget for 2018, which will be voted on at the Regional Parliament next week, will be a tool intended to guarantee the stability of agricultural sector. In this context, the funds allocated to investment will be directed to the modernisation and restructuring of production structures.
 
Accordingly, Vasco Cordeiro announced that, next year, the Government will reinforce the investment in roads, water supply and electrification of farms as the budget available for these specific infrastructures will more than double, increasing from three million Euros in 2017 to 6.69 million Euros in 2018.
 
"Next year, we will also continue to work towards the modernisation of the milk and meat industries, carrying out a joint work focused on strategic orientation and promotion of these products. These are the key pillars of regional agricultural competitiveness," said the President of the Government.
 
In this regard, the Azorean Milk and Dairy Centre, which involves several partners, will commission a comparative study between the milk produced in the Azores and national and international milk to an internationally recognised entity.
 
"This will be a further step towards a better and more objective comparative characterisation of Azorean milk. It may also contribute as an objective and independent basis to support future marketing campaigns designed to highlight differentiating characteristics of this Azorean product," said Vasco Cordeiro.