“In general we offer fruit from April to September, except for bananas which we have available all year round. However, this year seems to be different. We are losing some production due to the lack of rain. We usually have rain during the spring, but we are without rainfall since March. This means less production in all sorts of produce”, explains Silvia Bulhoes from Terra Verde, Association of Agricultural Producers of the Azores, Portugal.
This producers association assists in technical support to the growers. We help them fight against pests and diseases, to improve production, to promote their products, to represent the producers interests to the government and more. “Our members produce mostly potato, sweet potato, tomato, lettuce, watermelon, pepper, passionfruit, pineapple, banana, cucumber, strawberries and more.”
Recently, Silvia Bulhoes published a video on linkedin about a passion fruit plantation that is having problems. This production is located in S. Miguel Island at the Azores, so not Portugal mainland. “All passion fruit production is for the local market. More people are investing in this product. It might be important to think about exports, also for other products such as sweet potato, Anona or Inhame.”
For more information:
Silvia Bulhoes
Terra Verde - Association of Agricultural Producers of the Azores
Terra Verde - Association of Agricultural Producers of the Azores
Portugal
T: +351962766434