Forecast for Almond industry of Portugal

According to some of the local almond producers, in the last 10 years, there has been a growing bet on what comes to intensive almond production, not only in Portugal but also in Spain (Iberian Peninsula). If once, almond production was something done at the Algarve and the northern region of Portugal, nowadays it has spread all around the Alentejo as well and even competing for land with Olive production. When the water became available (due to the Alqueva dam's existence) in this region, almond production became an "obvious" bet. During 2020, there were heavy rainfalls during April and May, which led to diseases and other infestations that brought some losses to producers.

In 2022, rain is not yet predicted all around the country. This year might lead producers to struggle for profit if it occurs during those same months as they will not fight heavy rainfalls during critical production months.