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Praia da Vitória ,  November 20, 2019

Vasco Cordeiro defends economic profitability of the "good work" of agriculture in the area of environmental sustainability

The President of the Government defended in Praia da Vitória an increasing economic profitability of the “good work “carried out by the regional agricultural sector in terms of ecological footprint and animal welfare to take advantage of the growing appetite of markets for this type of good sustainable practices.
 
“We must continue the work – the good work - that has been done in our Region, starting with our farmers.  We must further deepen this work by substantiating it on a technical and scientific basis and, above all, make it profitable in an increasingly aware world that values these aspects,” said Vasco Cordeiro. The President pf the Government spoke at the opening of the 13th Congress of Agriculture of the Azores, an event promoted by the Azores Agricultural Federation.
 
After advocating that the University, but also other entities within the regional scientific system, have a good opportunity to contribute to this goal, the President of the Government considered that we should be aware that this challenge of environmental sustainability does not “begin and end in pasture and production.”
 
"In this area, perhaps it is outside the pasture where there is now a wider progression margin for us to do more and better. The energy performance of our dairy industries and their environmental component are some of the areas that deserve a fresh look and renewed attention,” said Vasco Cordeiro.
 
At the opening of the event, held with the Government's support, the President of the Azorean Government considered that what is at stake is the creation of “new and current arguments that meet market needs" and, consequently, the transformation of these "arguments into value creation for products, price gains and higher income yield for the entire chain."
 
“This is a matter of growing public interest and, simultaneously, a component that has been increasingly valued and appreciated by markets and consumers. Azorean agriculture is in a position to enter this debate and fully assume its added value in this discussion,” said the President of the Government.
 
A second challenge highlighted by Vasco Cordeiro on this occasion concerns the “virtuous alliance between research, the qualification of processes and products that needs to be further expanded, valued and made even more productive."
 
“This is an area in which we must overcome inertia, overcome obstacles and implement a new approach. It is essential to effectively underpin this partnership between the various entities that can contribute to the innovation and development of our agricultural sector,” said the President of the Government. In this regard, he stressed that, also in this matter, the "question not only arises in terms of production, but also, and more importantly, in the subsequent stages to this sector.
 
At the opening session of the congress, Vasco Cordeiro also emphasised the need to overcome the challenge of promoting agriculture and Azorean production.
 
"Basically, we intend to make ourselves better known, to highlight what we do and what we do well, and to show what we want to do even more and better," said the President of the Government. In this context, he highlighted that the Government will launch a national advertising campaign in early 2020 to disseminate the quality of Azorean dairy products. It will focus on effective and direct communication with consumers in Mainland Portugal, the main export market for regional dairy products.
 
On the occasion, Vasco Cordeiro stressed some results of the “remarkable path” followed by Azorean agriculture in recent decades, but warned that they cannot distract attention from the various challenges that the sector is facing.
 
It should be recalled that the Azores produce about 50 percent of the country's cheese and almost 35 percent of the milk. In 2018, milk production turnover reached almost 180 million Euros, i.e., 7.2% more than in 2017.
 
The turnover of the dairy industry reached 310 million Euros in 2018, being one of the major contributors to the growth of regional exports.
 
About 50% of the milk produced on the island of São Miguel and 40% in the Region is already refrigerated, which means better raw material and a direct improvement in producers' income.
 
As for the meat sector, its turnover stood at about 50 million Euros last year. It still shows good prospects for future enhancement due to the 15 million-Euro investment in the regional slaughter network and the certification process of all slaughterhouses; the latter will be fully completed by 2020.
 
In 2018, almost 73 thousand bovine carcasses were slaughtered and approved for consumption in regional slaughterhouses, representing an increase over 30% in the last five years.
 
If we analyse the period between 2008 and 2018, we currently export only one third of the live cattle previously exported, i.e., an evolution from 32 thousand to less than 11 thousand animals.
 
As regards agricultural diversification, the area for wine production, horticulture, fruit growing and floriculture has grown by almost 40% over the last four years, from 2,000 hectares to 3,000 hectares.
 
In viticulture, the results are also significant with the investment of 21 million Euros under the VITIS programme, which has contributed to the conversion of almost 800 hectares of vineyards.
 
Currently, 1,200 hectares of vineyards are in production in the Region, corresponding to 500 percent more than the 200 hectares in production in 2010.


GaCS/PC
 
 
 
 
 
   
 

Official government press-releases presented in all foreign languages interfaces of the Azorean Government Portal (Portal do Governo dos Açores) are a sub-set of the government's official press-releases daily output and are chosen for translation and publication on the foreign language interfaces based on audience segmentation criteria. The entire collection of the Azorean government press-releases is available in portuguese, here, from the GACS Press Office site.

 
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