The Regional Secretary for Agriculture and Forestry announced today that he will meet this week with the Azorean Agricultural Federation in order to move forward with measures to minimise losses that the drought hitting the archipelago will cause among farmers.
 
"The situation is very complex. The degree of difficulty differs from island to island, but I would say that there are cases on all islands that will need attention," said João Ponte, who visited some farms on Terceira Island.
 
After the evaluation that has already been carried out, as the Regional Government has been monitoring the evolution of this situation for some time together with agricultural associations on various islands, the time has now come for making decisions, mentioned the government official.
 
"There is no doubt that there will be losses, lack of food and drop in milk production. Even if it rains in July and August, there are losses that can no longer be recovered and farmers have to be compensated," said João Ponte.
 
The Regional Secretary pointed out that agriculture is a very important sector of economic activity in the Azores insofar as it generates a considerable amount of wealth. For that reason, the Government will support farmers, "as it could not be otherwise."
 
"In addition to the drought that is affecting food production in the Region, we are concerned about the issue of water supply," João Ponte stressed, adding that the Azorean Government has already made important decisions in this regard on some islands, which will be applied on the remaining islands.
 
The Regional Secretary explained that the Government intends to move forward with action plans to increase the water storage capacity during the winter so that it is possible to have more water available during the summer to supply to agriculture. The initiative will be implemented on all islands in collaboration with municipalities and producers' associations.
 
"It is a fact that some islands have already taken more significant steps, but there are others where we still need to undertake more efforts," said João Ponte. In this context, he noted that more funds will be channelled to investments in water supply and storage under the next Community support framework.