A shortage of workers has made it difficult to start harvesting in the Douro this season, and growers point to a problem that is getting worse year after year. “It should have been earlier,” but due to labor shortages, it has only been allowed to start now, António Boal of Costa Boal, which in the Douro region has begun harvesting in the area from Cabeda, told Lusa.
The lack of workers is considered a problem for this producer, who has vineyards in the Douro, Tras os Montes and Alentejo. He noted that even in Estremosa, the grape harvest was supposed to start more than a week ago, and did not start until Thursday. Ripening controls, which are regularly carried out in the vineyards, determine the ideal time for pruning in terms of acidity and grape variety, and as he explained, the logistics are complicated by a problem that gets worse year after year. The grower said it would take 20 to 25 people a day to keep the harvest “running smoothly” and on the first day the farm contractor showed up with his family, who joined the five workers already working on the site. “Today we want people to work, but we don’t have that,” he said.
Generally speaking, the reasons are related to the aging of the population, depopulation, as well as subsidies that supposedly do not allow recipients to work.