A reported that the availability at the launch of the challenge, during the auction of the first cherries this year – about a kilo, with a total of 33 large-caliber units, was sold for 660 euros to Miguel Caniça, a man of business that will start producing in June frozen cherry pies and pastries — today, in Fundão, district of Castelo Branco

Maria do Céu Antunes pointed out that the extension of the tunnel system, not with plastic, but with photovoltaic films, would guarantee “a gain in productivity and in the production of clean energy”.

The Minister of Agriculture and Food alluded to growers’ forecasts that point to drops of up to 70% in production this year, due to low temperatures recorded on consecutive nights at the time of flowering and great thermal amplitudes, to mention that “structural measures are necessary”, which go beyond insurance and the Rural Emergency Fund.

Maria do Céu Antunes stressed the importance of “protecting orchards and gaining competitiveness”.

“We can double the productivity of these orchards and, on the other hand, we are creating the conditions for the economic and environmental sustainability of this sector”, he stressed.

According to the minister, there are funds for this under the National Strategic Plan for the Common Agricultural Policy, which includes support for “green investments” and “everything to make better use of resources”.

“There are solutions in the United States of America, in Canada, and we are available to bring this solution to Portugal as well, not only in this region, but in other territories”, reinforced Maria do Céu Antunes, who hopes, within a year, to be in Fundão again to see the first sustainable tunnels implemented.

The official highlighted the 20 million euros that every year “remains in the local economy” with the sector and that the Fundão Cherry represents 60% of the national fruit production quota.

The mayor of Fundão, Paulo Fernandes, sees “with very good eyes the possibility of having significant support” for the installation of tunnels, which help to minimize the risks, with these characteristics, adding that there are already covers in about 10 to 15 acres of orchards.

“We are going to accept this challenge. We are going to talk to the producer organizations that we have, also in direct dialogue with the Ministry of Agriculture and with the support programs. Let’s see how we can help so that there is an interesting percentage If we manage to reach 5%, 6% of our production area, a hundred hectares already covered, would already be a great help so that, in addition to the other innovation poles that we are developing, we can continue to ‘have higher levels of productivity’, Autarch stressed.

According to the mayor of Fundão, there are about two thousand hectares of cherries in the municipality and there has been an effort “not so much in the production area, but above all in the requalification and modernization of the orchards”.

The awareness of the Cereja do Fundão brand, he pointed out, has helped producers and allowed greater sustainability in production, thanks to reinvestment in the sector.

Paulo Fernandes also highlighted the commitment to developing products derived from fresh cherries.

Fundão Cherry’s promotional campaign foresees, among other initiatives, the holding of the Cherry Festival, in Alcongosta, a village in the municipality, between June 9 and 11, the experimentation of cherry picking, trips by train near orchards, picnics, hot air balloon rides or cherry tree sponsorship.

The Minister of Agriculture stressed that it is a “brand image that has been able to innovate, renew itself, in terms of tourism and gastronomy”.

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