The Regional Secretary for Agriculture and Forestry, João Ponte, awarded today the contract work for the paving of two roads on Terceira Island, an overall investment of about 500 thousand Euros, thus continuing the regional strategy towards the permanent improvement of agricultural infrastructures.
 
Investments in agricultural infrastructures are essential for reducing the production costs of farms as well as for enhancing their profitability, which is why the Regional Government will continue to focus on their upgrade.
 
The intervention in Serra do Cume Rural Road in the municipality of Praia da Vitória, covering an extension of about 4,300 metres, was awarded to the company TRANSJET – Construções e Transportes, Lda. for the price of 283 thousand Euros.
 
This intervention will benefit sixty farmers and about 225 hectares of pasture land.
 
The work in Chambre Forest Road, which stretches over the municipalities of Angra do Heroísmo and Praia da Vitória, will be carried out by the company Tecnovia Açores, Sociedade de Empreitadas, S.A. for the price of 176 thousand Euros.
 
This 1,540-metre road gives access to the farms owned by more than twenty farmers, to a pasture area of 279 hectares and to 315 hectares of forest.
 
The investment in remodelling of agricultural roads in the Region will reach 8.5 million Euros this year.
 
In the specific case of Terceira Island, 1.6 million Euros will be invested, which will be essential for agriculture to continue overcoming challenges and help securing the sustainability of one of the Region's main economic activities.
 
Last year, the 691 milk producers from Terceira Island, who account for 29% of the Region's producers, produced 25% of the overall milk in the Azores, i.e., 156 million litres of milk.
 
In terms of regional meat production, the 1,366 producers from Terceira, representing 29% of the Region's global production, produced 29% of the meat approved for consumption.