Speech by the Regional Secretary for Agriculture and Food - Communication

Secretaria Regional da Agricultura e Alimentação

Full text of the speech delivered today by the Regional Secretary for Agriculture and Food, António Ventura, in Horta, during the discussion of the Plan and Budget for 2026:

"The wealth of a region is also assessed by its capacity to produce food for domestic consumption and export. Reality tells us that, year after year, we are increasing our food availability.

In this regard, we have achieved good results, as we produce more in horticulture, fruit growing, organic farming and beef. We have more corn fields, we produce more PDO and PGI-certified foods, we have more agricultural diversification, milk with better nutritional content, and we sell more outside the Region.

Agrifood exports rose from €277.9 million in 2019 to €432 million in 2024. This is a significant increase of €154 million. Yes, we are managing to increase food security for the Azoreans and to export more.

I congratulate the farmers who, together with public policies, are helping to make the Region less dependent on the outside world.

The 2026 Plan is gradually advancing this goal by ensuring farmers' income and promoting local food production.

We are committed to paying Community aid without cuts to POSEI, which is why this programme is growing by 21%.

This is an additional €19 million, ensuring that the aid announced is equal to that paid, and there will be no return to the past.

The Council of Ministers Resolution No. 80/2025 has already shown that, at last, there is a Government of the Republic that considers the Azores to be an agricultural region.

In the CAP Plan, under the measure “payments for areas subject to constraints,” we have secured a 10% increase in 2021 and, again in 2025, eliminated the cuts that were in place until 2020.

In 2020, this amount represented 9.4 million Euros between Community and regional funds, and for 2026 it amounts to 18.2 million Euros. This represents an overall increase of 16% compared to 2025 and an increase of 8.8 million Euros compared to 2020. For the first time since this measure was implemented, aid will be fully paid in the current calendar year.

Our invitation to young people to take up farming, through public policies, has already enabled 181 young farmers to take up this occupation since 2021, with 86 young people establishing themselves in 2025 alone. This is the highest figure over the last 10 years.

Looking at 2021 so far, investment projects amounting to around €118 million have been supported for farms and agribusiness under the LEADER programme and the RRP. Support for investment in farms, forestry and agribusiness has increased by 7% compared to 2025.

A total of €21 million has been earmarked for interventions in the road network, water supply and electrical systems.

The RRP has allocated €20 million to complete agricultural training projects and the São Jorge slaughterhouse.

In 2025, around 4,500 trainees were covered by agricultural training. This is a record number in the history of the Azores.

The Plan includes about €13 million for interventions aimed at promoting environmental sustainability and agroforestry activities.

The Plan covers nine projects approved under LIFE and Açores 2030, with a regional contribution of €2.6 million for agriculture.

This means that we are being recognised in Europe in areas such as the circular economy and forest conservation.

The agricultural success we are seeing is only possible with the participation and commitment of the Azoreans, who are dedicated to producing agrifood.

Accordingly, we will continue with measures such as agricultural diesel consumption without maximum limits, support for the installation of young people for €55,000, support for organic certification and the promotion of biodiverse pastures.

We will continue to implement the Strategic Agricultural Plans.

We will continue with measures in precision agriculture, carbon agriculture and biotechnology, and we will raise awareness of zero food waste.

Cooperation with the University of the Azores is present in protocols such as soil analysis, traditional grape varieties, tea, plant micropropagation, animal feed, pasture improvement, and genotyping.

This Plan and Budget for 2026, like previous plans since 2021, aims to be a strategic support tool to boost food production in the Azores in a sustainable, safe, and viable manner.