The president of the Southern Farmers Association (ACOS), Rui Garrido, promoter of the Ovibeja fair, said today that he hopes the new Minister of Agriculture will work “together” with the associations, to resolve farming problems.
“It is essential that the Ministry of Agriculture and associations work together. There are many problems to solve and there is a lot of our opinion to be heard”, Rui Garrido, president of ACOS, told Lusa today.
The event, which celebrates 40 years in 2024, will take place at the Manuel Castro e Brito Fairs and Exhibitions Park, in Beja, from next Tuesday until May 5th.
Both the Government and the entity organizing the event have already announced the presence of the Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, at the inauguration, starting at 11:00 on Tuesday, with a visit to the space.
The president of ACOS reminded Lusa that the agricultural fair is usually visited by numerous politicians annually, and that the new Minister of Agriculture, José Manuel Fernandes, is also expected to attend the event.
“We will have several government officials here and we will certainly have a meeting with the minister [da Agricultura]where we will present you with the most priority problems” in the sector, he said, highlighting that he intends to address those in the region, but also “some of agriculture in general”.
Rui Garrido added that, despite not knowing José Manuel Fernandes, he has information that he “is a person who knows how to listen”.
“According to what we were told, Mr. [ministro] likes to listen and knows how to listen. He likes to talk to associations and this will be fundamental”, he highlighted.
In addition, “we know that he is a person who knows the ins and outs of Brussels well, knows how to negotiate, so I believe that the conditions are in place for us to be able to do a good job”, he added.
For the president of ACOS, there are “many issues” to be discussed with the new person responsible for Agriculture, “starting with the review of PEPAC [Plano Estratégico da Política Agrícola Comum]which everyone has been talking about and that it is good to see it come to fruition as quickly as possible”.
“She finished in a hurry and, when the negotiation was finished, it was already known that what was useless”, he pointed out.
Rui Garrido added that there are other matters that need to be paid attention to, such as “water management in Alqueva” or “the issue of rainfed areas and the existence of small irrigated areas to support rainfed areas for fodder production”.
With more than a thousand exhibitors, Ovibeja, which this year has associations as its central theme, is considered “the great fair of the south”, which brings together “all of Alentejo in this world”.
In addition to strong agricultural and livestock components, the program includes concerts, colloquiums, entertainment, themed and institutional pavilions, crafts, product sales, among many other attractions.
