The Regional Secretariat for Natural Resources, through the Institute for Food and Agricultural Markets (IAMA), has paid half a million Euros to over 70 producers, whose applications were approved under the Milk Buying Back scheme in the Azores.

This payment corresponds to the last instalment payment provided in the Ordinance no.97/2011 of November 7. According to which, it was determined that the first payment should be made starting on June 15, 2012 and that the remainder should be made in the same month this year.

The amount paid was set at € 0.20 per kilogram. It was allocated to producers who hold milk quotas for direct deliveries or sales of milk and who have applied for the support measures under the milk production abandonment programme until March 31, 2012.

With this measure, the Government continues the restructuring and resizing process of Azorean dairy farms, being one of the major goals of the Government for this sector. Furthermore, it also provides a significant contribution for the structural modernisation of the regional dairy sector as well as for the sustained increase of Azorean milk production, which represents nearly 32% of the national milk production.