The President of the Government visited today Fajazinha, taking part in a health action developed by a team of Flores and Corvo Agrarian Development Services. It was held under the official plans for the prevention of brucellosis, leucosis as well as under the new BVD prevention programme being implemented at regional level.
 
Vasco Cordeiro, accompanied by the Regional Secretary for Agriculture and the Environment, attended the blood collection carried out on a dairy farm with the aim of helping producers with the so-called production diseases, taking into consideration the excellent health status achieved in the Region regarding notifiable diseases.
 
These diseases no longer pose danger to human health, but have a direct impact on farm income.
 
The Azorean Government, which invested about half a million Euros in this goal in 2015, increased this year the financial allocation for animal improvement and health. Moreover, it maintains important services and multiple tests that are made available to Azorean farmers free of charge, contrary to what happens in Mainland Portugal.
 
The Government aims to contribute to the export capacity of the Region as well as to the increase in the income of neat and milk producers and heifer breeders, safeguarding food quality, consumer safety and the confidence in local cattle and products.
 
In the current legislative period, the Regional Government has implemented the raw milk classification process on Flores, where the Government has also implemented the Control Plan.
 
At a time when health barriers are an increasingly serious obstacle to the movement of animals and marketing of products, the evolution of health quality and the measures implemented are also essential to meet the new challenges that Azorean agriculture and animal husbandry face, namely the milk sector.