The Regional Secretary for Agriculture and Forestry, João Ponte, delivered in Brussels a memorandum containing the main challenges for agriculture in the Azores as part of the revision of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) after 2020, with which the Committee on Agriculture of the European Union has identified itself.
 
"The challenges of agriculture in the Azores in the future CAP after 2020 have been understood and will deserve the attention of the European Commissioner's office in the near future," said João Ponte. He spoke after a meeting with the adviser for Outermost Regions and POSEI of the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Kevin Keary.
 
The Regional Secretary has expressed his concern with the fact that the end of milk quotas in 2015 led to a fall in the price of milk paid to producers in the archipelago, which is an outermost region, far from the markets and geographically dispersed.
 
"The price of milk in the Azores is the lowest in Europe, despite being a product of excellent quality," said João Ponte, adding that the difference in the price of milk paid in the Azores compared to Mainland Portugal and other Member States is still considerable.
 
João Ponte was accompanied at the meeting by the Regional Director for Rural Development, the President of the Azores Agricultural Federation and the Coordinator of the Azores Representation Office in Brussels. For the government official, the revision of CAP must introduce measures to ensure the increase of farmers' income and a fair distribution in the food chain.
 
Currently, the average age of Azorean farmers in the Azores stands at 57 years, the youngest in the country and, according to João Ponte, the average age will rise to 67 years until the end of the next community support framework.
 
"Hence, the next CAP should include attractive measures for a fair retirement of older farmers, while attracting young and new farmers to the sector in order to ensure the sustainability of agriculture in the Azores," defended João Ponte.
 
At the same time, the Regional Secretary for Agriculture and Forestry defended a 15% increase in POSEI funds in the archipelago for the sustainability of the regional sector, as "the current budget is not enough to meet all the requests without making apportions or to secure new aid."
 
With regard to the second pillar of CAP, rural development policy, João Ponte stated that the Azores also advocated a budget increase and the maintenance of the current co-financing rates applied to Outermost Regions.
 
"This second pillar is extremely important in order to respond to the improvement of the competitiveness of the sector, the investments that need to be made in the modernisation of the sector as well as in facilities and infrastructures to attract more young people to the agricultural sector. Moreover, it is also fundamental to ensure the profitability of farms and the maintenance of our agriculture," stressed the Secretary for Agriculture.
 
The Azores' concerns also include the need to ensure a smooth transition between Community support frameworks so that the financial support to farmers is not interrupted.