The rains of the last few days already guarantee pastures and conditions for the autumn/winter harvests, after a year of drought that affected all productions, the Minister of Agriculture, Maria do Céu Antunes, said on Friday.
“Clearly, these rains, which came at a good time, have already helped us overcome the level of water stress that all our ecosystems had”said the minister, in Bragança, on the sidelines of a visit to the Sortegel chestnut factory.
THE brunette It is one of the agricultural productions where the effects of the drought are visible in the delay of the campaign and in the lower quantity that is expected, this year, in the Trás-os-Montes region, the largest national producer.
The October rains also brought the expectation that the subsequent chestnut varieties would still recover and the certainty advanced this Friday by the minister that there is already “a recovery of water in the soil, groundwater, reservoirs.”
It is still not enough for us to be rested, but it has a consequence that seems very important to us, which is to recover the level of water in the soil, which allows, in particular, that our prairies, natural or sown pastures, begin to develop ”, indicated the governor.
The autumn/winter crops are also benefiting from the rains, after the threat of drought, which if it continued “hardly” would allow the conditions for these productions to exist, as indicated.
“Clearly, we already have, at this time, the minimum level to guarantee pastures and conditions to be able to plan these autumn/winter crops,” he stressed.
During her visit to Bragança, the minister heard the call to reinforce irrigation in the region, which, she assured, “is the region with the greatest investment in irrigation”, highlighting that “the work that is being done is notorious, due to the number of projects approved, in progress and already completed.
“For the district of Bragança, we are talking about 32 projects to improve existing irrigation systems, eight thousand hectares with a total investment of almost 66 million euros,” he concluded.
Among these projects are 9.3 million euros for the lifting of the Burga dam and the construction of the Cerejal stream damto reinforce the irrigation of the Vale da Vilariça, one of the most fertile in the region.
The survey has been called for years to increase the storage capacity of the Burga dam, although the guaranteed financing has been the subject of complaint by the Irrigation Association due to the delay in the process delivered to the Chamber of Vila Flor, in collaboration with the Alfandega da Fé.
The minister explained this Friday that the project is subject to an “ex-ante” evaluation (before the work can proceed) by the European Investment Bank (EIB).
And, for the moment, studies are being carried out to comply with this condition and, based on the documents that will be presented, we will be able to move forward with the work, which should be finished by the end of 2025,” he said. .
Maria do Céu Antunes also stressed that the investments underway in the region are also having an impact “on agricultural production, which has been developing” and that the Government wants to continue on this path with more support for farmers.
The official recalled that the Strategic Plan of the Common Agricultural Policy (PEPAC), which starts on January 1, 2023, brings another 30% support to farmers’ income.
“Already this year 2022 we open the possibility that all farmers can resort to these income support measures. Currently 2,500 farmers benefit and this year another 1,200 farmers from areas vulnerable to rural fires will apply. By 2026, when the history and rights regime ends, all farmers can apply,” he specified.
Source: Observadora
