About 70 idle tractors left Bombarral

About 70 tractors and other vehicles began to slowly leave Bombarral at 8:45 a.m. towards Caldas da Rainha, Leiria district, to protest against the problems facing agriculture.

“No more millionaire profits from production,” “Our end is your hunger,” “the end of today’s agriculture is tomorrow’s hunger,” read some of the posters carried by farmers in their cars.

There are other phrases such as: “Fair prices for producers and consumers”, “We are in mourning”, “Don’t let agriculture die”, “There is no future without agriculture”, “More respect for farmers”, “More respect for farmers.” “If the farmer doesn’t plant the city, don’t dine,” “Don’t kill those who starve you,” or “We demand fair competition in imports.”

“We are going backwards as producers,” complained Davide Silva, one of the protesters.

According to this 30-year-old farmer, the sector is producing less and less due to “low prices”, “product withdrawal from the market” in favor of other goods outside the European Union and differences in prices paid to the producer and consumer, leaving profits to large commercial companies. squares.

Marco Nobre, 37, decided to join the protest “because of the way the current government treats farmers”, highlighting among the main problems “unfair competition” for products from outside the European Union entering national markets and bureaucracy in licensing projects intended for irrigation.

Luis Aniceto, 48, has also faced problems, meaning producers are finding it “increasingly difficult to achieve profitability.”

Raquel Silva preferred to talk about “the lack of conditions for the production of rock pears, the shortage of chemical products and the resulting difficulties in pest control,” as well as problems with the flow of wine, given the high volume of wine production.

This 34-year-old farmer clarified that farmers are not asking for subsidies, but for production assistance with the availability of phytopharmaceuticals and a reduction in the IRS in order to have “working capital.”

“Agriculture will clearly become poorer,” he emphasized.

Dissatisfied with the inequality of food control rules between domestic and imported products and prices between producers and consumers, Edgar Souza, 45, sees no other future than to “protest because he has a son who studies at an agricultural school and he does not see there is no future for him and he will have to close your company.”

“I’ve been farming for 50 years and I’ve never seen agriculture the way it is now,” said 70-year-old Joao Duarte.

For the farmer, the fact that “producers are selling cheaper and consumers are paying more and more is killing agriculture.”

The slow march is organized by the Western Region Farmers’ Civic Movement, a spontaneous movement formed among industry professionals in the region.

Farmers move slowly along the National Road 8 towards Óbidos and Caldas da Rainha, where they will circulate through the city center, passing in front of the western delegation of the Regional Directorate of Agriculture and Fisheries of Lisbon and the Tagus Valley.