The Regional Secretary for Agriculture and Forestry announced today that the Azorean farmers who have applied to POSEI aid and premiums will receive an overall amount of 20 million Euros by December 30 regarding to payments made under that programme.
 
It concerns the payment of premiums to Animal Productions, amounting to 14.5 million Euros, which includes 30% of the regional supplementary funding of 3.25 million Euros to the Dairy Cow Premium and Vegetable Production Aid; the latter amounts to 5.4 million Euros.
 
POSEI has helped Azorean producers by contributing to the development of sustainable quality agriculture that will ensure the long-term viability of farms, rural communities and the regional natural heritage.
 
The report on the evaluation of POSEI, recently published by the European Commission, recognises the importance of this programme for Outermost Regions, such as the Azores, to production sectors and job creation.
 
The amount to be paid on December 30 were announced by João Ponte at the end of a visit to the Agrocapelense Cooperative on S. Miguel, during which he discussed with the board the main challenges for regional farmers and cooperatives.
 
The price of milk paid to producers is one of the major challenges of the sector. There are strong expectations that the industry will make an effort to keep up with the recovery of prices, as already evidenced in markets for some time.
 
"In this regard, some industries on the island of S. Miguel have announced the increase in milk prices at one cent per litre from January 1," João Ponte stressed, adding the Government "expects that this measure may be followed by other industries."
 
At the end of the visit to the Agrocapelense Cooperative, located in the village of Capelas, João Ponte considered that "cooperatives such as this provide a very important service to the industry." The Agrocapelense Cooperative operates in the promotion and marketing of products from member farms as well as in the acquisition of seeds, plants, animals and products for member farms.
 
The Regional Secretary stressed that this is possible due to the services it provides and the the availability of production factors.
 
According to him, "much of the industry's costs come from the acquisition of production factors. In this context, cooperatives provide a vital contribution to the reduction of production costs for farmers and the improvement of income with competitive price strategies, through agreements established with producers."