Portugal is already self-sufficient in the production of nuts for national consumption and has even begun to export to other markets, revealed this Tuesday the president of Portugal Nuts — Association for the Promotion of Nuts.
In almonds we were already self-sufficient and in other crops we were still on that path, specifically in walnuts, but at this moment we are already self-sufficient and even with surpluses, that is, we are already exporting”, Tiago Costa, president of Portugal, told the agency Lusa.
According to the director of this association, which represents 50 producers and processors from all over the country, the increased production of nuts in Portugal, “particularly in the Alentejo area, is due to the availability of water and good soil and climate conditions”.
“We have soil and climate conditions, we have available water and we are talking about permanent crops with high added value,” added Tiago Costa, noting that production has been increasing in all regions [do país]especially in almond”.
Despite this increase in production, the The dried fruit sector has also been affected “very intensely” by considerable growth of the costs related to the factors of production, that is, the price of energy, water or fertilizers, assured the president of Portugal Nuts.
“There was a general increase in all factors of production, which generates great pressure on costs, which increased by around 30 to 40%,” Tiago Costa explained to Lusa.
On the other hand, he continued, “the increase in production costs was not reflected in any way in the increase in sales prices and culture, from this point of view, is suffering a lot.”
According to Tiago Costa, the price of the fruit “is increasingly determined in the world market.”
“In the case of almonds there was a lot of stockparticularly in the United States [EUA] and, therefore, prices remained stable, but downward. In walnut it was exactly the same, because the stock It was very high and when consumption suffered some reduction, the law of supply and demand caused the price of walnuts to drop,” he concluded.
This Tuesday, Portugal Nuts promoted its second national congress, in Beja, where the study “Water needs of nut crops in the main production areas” was presented, developed in collaboration with the Royal Academy of Engineering of Madrid (Spain). .
The study revealed that nut farmers in Portugal manage water “efficiently”, spending “30-40% less” than their American counterparts.
Source: Observadora
