The Regional Secretary for Agriculture and Forestry expressed his satisfaction with the EU Commission's approval of the third revision of PRORURAL + programme, presented by the Government of the Azores, which will allow 231 farmers to continue receiving support for livestock extensification.
 
"The European Commission has approved the revision of the programme. This will allow farmers whose commitments to the maintenance of livestock extensification were discontinued in 2016 to continue benefiting from the support already this year," said João Ponte. The government official spoke on Corvo at the end of the meetings with the boards of Lacticorvo Cooperative and Agricultural Association.
 
The Regional Government announced in January that it would request to the European Commission an amendment to PRORURAL+ in order to increase the allocation of the measure for livestock extensification by transferring funds from other measures with lower approval and execution rates. This will allow farmers to maintain the extensive system in their farmers, the level of profitability and their sustainability.
 
João Ponte stressed that the decision now made public is "good news" for the industry and reveals that the European Commission was sensitive to the arguments put forward by the Regional Government.
 
"We are talking about a sum of 3.2 million Euros over five years," João Ponte said, adding that this amendment to PRORURAL + will have a direct impact on all islands, namely on Corvo, Flores, Santa Maria and Pico.
 
In the case of Corvo Island, the smallest in the archipelago, support for livestock extensification represents an annual amount of 70 thousand Euros per year, while on Flores it reaches 130 thousand Euros.
 
The government official stated that it will be possible to continue encouraging livestock extensification farming and the maintenance of extensive of environment-friendly pasture systems as well as forms of exploring agricultural land that are compatible with the protection of natural and soil resources.
 
In this visit to Corvo Island, João Ponte said the Government will continue to provide financial support to the local Agricultural Cooperative, which provides important and diversified services to Corvo farmers.
 
Moreover, the Government will "soon" open a tender for the remodelling of the building where the local Agrarian Development Services are installed with the aim of improving the physical conditions for the provision of a proximity and quality service to the agricultural sector.