CAP warns that it will intensify protests if government does not advance with support

A Confederation of Farmers of Portugal (CAP) today warned that it will intensify protests if the Government does not adopt support measures to regain competitiveness of the sector vis-à-vis Spain, after a merger with the Assembly of the Republic (AR).

“ Either this is a point of arrival because the government recognizes our reason and adopts the necessary measures, or (...) we will have to go from here to other demonstrations with a different dimension”, said the president of CAP, Álvaro Mendonça and Moura, after having delivered a document with the claims in the official residence of the Prime Minister.

According to the person responsible, Luís Montenegro’s chief of staff undertook to convey the demands to the Prime Minister and to seek to accommodate them within the flexibility that the Government considers available.

The CAP requires a package of EUR 140 million to compensate for the worsening costs of production, including fuel and fertilizers, and to bring the competitive conditions of Portuguese farmers closer to those of the Spanish.

“The Spanish Government’s support per litre [of agricultural diesel] is strictly double, it is 20 cents and we in Portugal are 10 cents,” Álvaro Mendonça and Moura said, adding that Portuguese support for fertilizers is about 30 times lower than that granted in Spain.

“ Under these conditions, it is not possible to compete”, he said, arguing that the claim does not aim to give subsidies to farmers, but to ensure conditions for Portuguese agriculture to compete in national and international markets.

Álvaro Mendonça and Moura also defended the need to provide funds in the State Budget to respond to the crisis in production costs, which it considers uncertain duration.

Already today the Minister of Agriculture said that it was only in 2027 that “there will be more than EUR 162 million for support” for farmers to compensate for the rise in production costs and regain competitiveness with Spain.

During the initiative, representatives of agroforestry associations realized the difficulties experienced in different activities.

Duarte Borges of the Association of Farmers, Winemakers and Olive growers of the Ansiães Plateau (AFUVOPA) said that the increase in production costs without an equivalent increase in prices paid to the producer is jeopardising the economic viability of the farms and their ability to compete with Spain.

In turn, José Manuel Nunes, of the Association of Ruminants Creators of the Guard Council (ACRICUARDA), warned of the fall in sales prices of animals, at the same time as the rise in costs of diesel and fertilizers, considering that the producers' profit margin became residual and incompatible with the continuity of the activity.

Beekeeping was also identified as one of the sectors in difficulty, due to increased production costs and lack of adequate support.

A representative of the National Federation of beekeepers of Portugal, Manuel Gonçalves, warned that many beekeepers consider giving up and defending direct aid, particularly for the fuel needed to travel to the apiaries.

The CAP delivered a basket of Portuguese agricultural products, including rice, fruit, vegetables, cheese, olive oil, wine, dried fruits and honey, at the official residence of the Prime Minister, to alert the risk of loss of national production if the conditions of competitiveness continue to deteriorate.