The regional fruit development plan of the Azores in Portugal, presented today, intends to “take advantage of the archipelago's potential” for production in order to reduce dependence on imported fruits. Cited in a press note, the secretary of Agriculture and Forestry, João Ponte, added that a primary objective of the plan is to contribute to the increase in exports and agricultural diversification in the Azores region.
Even though the number and area of fruit orchards have had a steady growth for the last 5 years, with 15% increase in total area for said period, there is an ambition to grow even more.
The plan has been designed for the next six years, and covers all the islands of the archipelago. Among these axes are “formation to markets”, “strengthening research and development”, “organization of production and public support”, which will be “materialized in 46 concrete measures”, where formative reinforcement, technical support and research in partnership with the University of Azores will take place. This will scale gains and deliver competitiveness to the local agricultural sector.
“With the approval, at the last [Regional] Government Council, of this regional fruit development plan, a strong political commitment was signed in order to reinforce the sector's weight and agricultural diversification in the Azores”, stressed João Ponte.