The regional secretary for Agriculture and Forestry announced today, in the island of Faial, that the Government of the Azores “is going to accelerate the process of payment to the farmers of the aids to the investment”.

With this measure, which is already being put in action, it is intended “helping the farmers to better mitigate the difficulties resulting from the international crisis”, explained Noé Rodrigues in the end of the meeting of the Regional Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development Council, which took place in the parish of Flamengos.

As he told, the idea is that the payment of the regional and Community aids to the investment may be done “without delays”, so that the costs of exploration are not troubled by any delays.

In other words, the farmer asks the anticipation that he has a right to of the aids to the investment, in the value of 30 percent, and then he will be receiving, from time to time, the supports while he executes his project, said the regional secretary.

In what it concerns to the investments already carried out by the farmers, Noé Rodrigues explained that the support of the Government, just as it will happen in other areas of activity, will especially aim at compensating the resultant difficulties of the aggravation of the interest rates in the most recent past.

Questioned by the journalists on the issue of the price of the milk to the production, the governor called attention for the "incongruence" of the industrialists of the sector, who "don’t use the same celerity when, in function of the market, they decide to increase or to reduce the price".

Advisory organ, the Regional Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development Council is destined for supporting the regional secretary in the formulation of the general lines of action in the sectors of the competence of the department that it directs, securing the dialog and the cooperation with entities and organizations of regional extent.

Besides elements of several departments of the Regional Secretariat for Agriculture and Forestry, the council integrates representatives of the social partners, namely of the representative organizations of the Azorean and industrial farmers of the sector, Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Azores, University of the Azores and Labour Union of Agriculture, Food and Forestry.