Speech delivered by the Regional Secretary for Agriculture and Rural Development - Communication

Secretaria Regional da Agricultura e do Desenvolvimento Rural

Full text of the speech delivered today by the Regional Secretary for Agriculture and Rural Development, António Ventura in Horta, during the discussion of the Plan and Budget for 2023:

"If we are to talk about the Plan for 2023, we first have to talk about the results achieved in 2021 and 2022.  In other words, the policies pursued towards results alongside a policy of guidance. Only in this way can we understand the true exercise of governance.  A policy that projects, but that is also assessed.

Since the beginning of this legislative period, we have established a practical attitude of developing generational agriculture that is progressively self-sufficient in terms of food production and adjusted to the quantities produced. It is an agriculture that combines sustainability and competitiveness, integration and fair prices. In addition, it should be export-oriented, promoting and preserving our endogenous resources as well as improving the nutritional content of agrifoods.

After a year and a half of governance, and when we compare with the years before 2021, we see that we now produce more fruit, more organic food, namely more organic milk, and more local livestock food due to the increase in the maize production area. There has also been an increase in biodiverse pasture areas, livestock extensification, vineyard areas and cattle slaughtering, in addition to more fair prices paid to producers. In short, good results for the Azores.

We have implemented policies that add value to agrifoods, enhancing the excellence of our products, as in the case of milk production. The strategy is simple: less milk, a higher price, which will lead us closer to fair prices. 

In 2021 and 2022, there was more specialised training. For the first time, we promoted thematic training initiatives on all islands, aimed at producers and consumers, thus resulting in more food diversification. 

We have created Agricultural Planning Perimeters on all islands, which already cover 28% of the regional territory. We have grown from 16 to 23.

We have drawn up a political strategy for dairy and beef cattle breeding, horticulture, floriculture and viticulture, through the respective Strategic Plans. Now we know where we want to go. We have established a time frame based on economic, social and environmental commitments.

We have ensured income protection for producers through the payment of income foregone support, without apportionment. The aid announced is the aid paid. We have internationally certified the slaughterhouses of the islands of São Miguel and Terceira for animal welfare. We have more family farms in the Azores. We have achieved the highest implementation rate of Community funds since the beginning of PRORURAL+. This means we are using more Community funds for food production.

Yes, we have another way of thinking and doing things and it is proving to be successful. But we humbly acknowledge that there is still much to do and, in this regard, we need everyone and we accept good proposals, but we do not accept rhetoric or contradictions.

The 2023 Plan aims to continue following a successful agricultural path, with good results, where innovation, research, training and sustainability are further enhanced. It is a plan with a realistic budget, bearing in mind that 2023 will be a transition year between Community support periods. What we foresee is to be implemented with efficiency and effectiveness.

Objectively, the Plan aims to:

- Safeguard the income of food producers, as it will fully pay the support for loss of income under POSEI and PEPAC, providing for a an increase of 1.5 million Euros;

- Pursue public policies to increase the price of products paid to farmers;

- Promote the path towards progressive food self-sufficiency and knowledge of our self-sufficiency level;

- know more about price formation, through the creation of the Agrifood Observatory;

- Invest in animal welfare certification of livestock farms, with a 58% increase in funds compared to 2022;

 - Stimulate animal and plant genetic diversity, with specific actions for our community qualifications and in indigenous breeds;

- Provide for the certification of five more slaughterhouses for animal welfare;

- Invests in the slaughterhouses of Pico and São Miguel and launches the construction work of the new slaughterhouse on the island of São Jorge;

-Plan the construction of a new laboratory for milk analysis and classification on the island of São Miguel;

- Continues to focus on sustainable, biodiverse and diversified agriculture;

It is a Plan that supports research internships and scientific research in agrifood areas; it is a Plan that further develops specific policies for the Islands, such as, for example, a milk production initiative on São Jorge Island and road interventions on the islands of Pico, Flores and São Miguel; it is a Plan that begins the recovery of our traditional and forgotten food productions; it is a Plan that creates investment opportunities within the scope of the new Community Support Period 23-27; it is a Plan that provides for investment in rural and forest roads, water supply, electrification of farms and land restructuring. It has a provisional budget allocation of 5.7 million Euros, which ensures a realistic implementation; it is a Plan that makes the forest mapping of São Miguel and Terceira operational in terms of the calculation of carbon sequestration; it is another Plan, like the two previous ones, based on governance that listens to producers and shares decisions. It is a source of pride to have agricultural associations that think critically and make proposals. 

Agriculture is increasingly a joint activity and, consequently, it is increasingly at the heart of our lives and at the heart of the progress of the Azores.

Bearing in mind this assumption, I reaffirm my commitment to work with dedication and strategic vision so that, through agriculture, we may improve the lives of the Azoreans."