The Regional Secretary for Agriculture and Forestry has accused PSD (Social Democratic Party) of having left the Azorean agriculture “bankrupt” and of “impoverishing” farmers.

Speaking at the Legislative Assembly, following a political statement made the Social Democrat António Ventura; Noé Rodrigues said that neither PSD nor the parliamentary group can teach any lesson on agriculture in the Azores to the Government.”

PSD left agriculture in “bankruptcy,” farmers in “poverty” and dairy industry totally “outdated,” stated Noé Rodrigues.

The Regional Secretary added that “this is the story that the PSD has to tell and unfortunately this is the legacy of PSD to Azorean farmers over 20 years of governance.”

According to Noé Rodrigues, it was the action carried out by PS (Social Party) that enabled the agricultural sector to achieve “the greatest success of any activity sector” in the Azores which has been particularly noticeable “in all value chains and in all activity sectors.”

In addition to being the result of “the potentialities of the Region,” this situation is also the result of the fact that the Government led by PS has managed to effectively negotiate EU funds in order to “do everything and always the best to benefit Azorean farmers.”

Noé Rodrigues also criticised PSD for refusing to participate in the discussion about POSEI and the current EU support framework in 2005 and 2006, and regretted that their refusal to acknowledge that the Azores achieved “great success” in those negotiations.