On April 13, the Regional Secretariat for Agriculture and Forestry will hold a public session to present the proposed strategy for organic farming in the Azores at the Agrarian Development Services of São Miguel Island.
The session, open to public in general, will be attended by the Regional Secretary for Agriculture and Forestry, João Ponte, the Regional Director for Agriculture, José Élio Ventura, the President of the Azores Agricultural Federation, Jorge Rita, and the coordinator of the proposal, David Horta Lopes. It aims to inform, disseminate and make this process as participatory as possible.
Following this public session, the proposed strategy for organic farming in the Azores will enter a 60-day public consultation period.
The proposed Strategy for the Development of Organic Farming and an Action Plan for the Production of Organic Products in the Autonomous Region of the Azores were delivered to the Regional Secretary for Agriculture and Forestry on March 28.
The document was coordinated by David Horta Lopes (University of the Azores). The working group comprised technicians and members of BioAzórica Cooperative from Terceira Island and of TryBio from Faial.
This regional strategy proposal was designed for a 10-year time horizon. It defined five strategic goals: expanding organic production areas; increasing production and, consequently, the supply of agricultural and agri-food products produced from organic farming methods; promoting technical and scientific knowledge; encouraging business innovation and providing statistical information; fostering trust and credibility of these products among consumers.
The Azores are already developing projects in organic farming, more specifically in the areas of horticulture and meat production, in addition to pilot project for milk production.