The Regional Secretary for Agriculture and Forestry announced today that the POSEI support to banana producers in the Azores will be paid in June, with an increase of 30% over the initial sum.
 
João Ponte pointed out that the overall POSEI allocation for banana production in 2016 amounts to nearly 940 thousand Euros, that is, 240 thousand euros more than the initially budget.
 
"This is an important aid as the costs of banana production are very significant and, without it, it would not be possible to maintain production on the range currently registered in the Region," said João Ponte at the end of a visit to Frutaçor cooperative in Vila Franca do Campo.
 
The Regional Secretary said cooperatives should make an effort to continue organising production in order to maintain banana production in the periods when it is scarcer and reaches the best market prices.
 
João Ponte also revealed that the Government of the Azores will finance, under the programmes to support the cooperative sector in agriculture, the installation of two banana maturation chambers at Frutaçor Cooperative.
 
"The equipment is very important to the enhancement of this product and, consequently, to the improvement of banana producers' income," said the government official.
 
Created in 1994, the Frutaçor Cooperative brings together 34 banana producers. Last year, it reached 688 tonnes of bananas, the best result in recent years.
 
Banana production in the Azores is more significant on the islands of São Miguel, Terceira and Pico.