The Regional Secretary for Agriculture and Forestry stated in Ponta Delgada that several solutions are being assessed with a view to the restructuring of the dairy sector, which may involve an eventual containment of production on the islands of São Miguel and Terceira to improve producers' income.
According to João Ponte, the measures to be defined for the containment of milk production on the two islands that produce the most will always ensure the maintenance of agricultural activity, the sustainability of farms and a satisfactory income for farmers.
The Secretary for Agriculture spoke on the sidelines of the meeting held by the Azorean Milk and Dairy Centre (CALL). According to him, the Azores Agricultural Federation presented a proposal involving the optional reduction of up to 20%, while maintaining POSEI support as if producers were producing at 100%.
"Naturally, we will now carefully analyse this proposal in coming weeks so that we may assess its impacts on farms and producers' income," said João Ponte.
The meeting also addressed the possibility of introducing changes to POSEI 2020 programme in order to replace the current form of aid payment, which is based on the quantity of milk produced (litres).
For the government official, it is important, for example, to create conditions to promote the environmental sustainability image of Azorean dairy products, which will emphasise the image associated with nature and pastures while searching for new markets willing to pay more for production.
"The conversion of dairy farms to meat production was another proposal under discussion at this meeting. It is intended that the aid granted to milk producers will be transformed into suckling cow entitlements, which will enable farmers to maintain agricultural activities," said João Ponte. As he noted, this proposal will not end milk production on São Miguel and Teceira, where the dairy sector is strategic, but it implies finding a solution for surplus production.
The Regional Secretary for Agriculture and Forestry also stressed that both production and industry, namely CALL, considered this meeting incredibly positive as a starting point for a comprehensive reflection on what is intended for the milk sector in the future and how to optimise it.