The Prime Minister said on Saturday that it was vital for the country to address the generational problem in the agricultural sector, given that it was a threat to national food sovereignty.
“This is a problem that affects the entire raw materials sector. We need to reverse this trajectory, which, from a generational perspective, threatens the sustainability and profitability of the agricultural sector,” said Luis Montenegro at the 75th anniversary celebration of Agros, the Union of Milk Producers Cooperatives, based in Póvoa de Varzim, Porto County.
The official recalled that the dairy sector accounts for 9% of all agricultural value, has a turnover of 1,999 million euros and creates more than 648 thousand direct and indirect jobs, but that 60% of producers are over 55 years old and only 11% are under 34 years old.
“Agriculture and fisheries, our entire core sector, are of strategic importance for the future of Portugal. They give us food autonomy, independence from the outside world and create jobs. Without strong agriculture, we cannot guarantee territorial unity,” the Prime Minister noted.
Luis Montenegro was “shocked” by Agros president Idalino Leana’s revelation that “there are children of farmers who are bullied at school” because of their parents’ professional activities.
“As Prime Minister, I have worked to praise and ennoble Portuguese agriculture and farmers. We must not look down on farmers and their descendants, but with gratitude and patriotism. I am shocked to learn that there is hostility from a social point of view towards those who carry out their activities in agriculture,” he added.
Luis Montenegro noted that “in recent years there has been a division between the central administration and farmers,” but even so, “despite the negative impact of European regulations, the country has managed to increase exports.” [agroalimentares]”.
“The guidelines that have been given and followed are that the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and the Ministry of Environment and Energy work hand in hand. If we can remove these obstacles of bureaucracy, rules and requirements, we will have the opportunity to add value to this sector,” he stressed.
Luis Montenegro expressed “satisfaction that Europe has realized that it cannot be ‘more papist than the Pope’ in the rules it applies to farmers.”
“We cannot have a set of rules and obligations that are so restrictive and that make the product so expensive that it creates the absurdity of depriving our farmers of profitability and at the same time filling the supermarket shelves with products from other regions that do not apply the same requirements that we have here in Europe,” he said.
That is why the Prime Minister, who opened an event dedicated to Agros’ 75th anniversary at the organization’s headquarters, promised to “join forces to simplify procedures and remove bureaucratic obstacles” in order to stimulate “the growth of the sector’s value.”
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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