Minister wants support for surpluses in the Douro region as early as September

The Minister of Agriculture said this Thursday that he expects the announced support for surplus production to reach Douro winegrowers by September, opening up the possibility of exceeding the announced 13 million euros.

These statements were made at the hearing in the Republican Assembly following a request presented by the Socialist Party (PS), the PCP and Juntos Pelo Povo (JPP), an urgent request following new protests on Wednesday by winegrowers . José Manuel Fernandes clarified the measure intended for the delivery of surplus grapes for distillation and that the Government's main objective is small and medium-sized producers.

The hearing was scheduled to begin at 7:00 PM, but it began around 8:20 PM and was still ongoing at 10:07 PM. "The member talks about 13 million euros. It will depend. And we are democrats. We submitted an interinstitutional document, because we have a number in mind for the kilogram of grapes, but we want to hear from the people," said José Manuel Fernandes in response to Alfredo Maia of the PCP, elected by Porto.

The minister said it will depend on how many grapes are delivered for distillation , because "no one can guess," and that it will then be a matter of "mathematical calculation." "Of course, we have our scenarios and our forecasts. Our goal is for everything to be resolved by September, and the Douro and Port Wine Institute (IVDP) will be responsible for this. Who will receive the aid? The producers," assured José Manuel Fernandes.

(…) In the Douro, there are 18,293 winegrowers, and 7,485 have less than 0.5 hectares,” the minister began. (…) The stock in the Douro region, and this is impressive, is 444 million liters, when we produce 700 million liters throughout Portugal,” José Manuel Fernandes stated. In the last wine year in the region, according to the figures cited by the minister, 155 million liters of wine were produced and 115 million were sold , with a new accumulation of product.

José Manuel Fernandes took the opportunity to emphasize that "not everything is bad in the wine sector" , which last year, José Manuel Fernandes quoted, recorded a surplus of 11% more than in 2023, which translates into 806 million euros.

The remaining two requests were presented by Júlia Rodrigues, elected by the Bragança constituency , and by Filipe Sousa, from the Madeira JPP .

On Thursday, winegrowers walked along some of the main streets of the city of Peso da Régua in protest against the difficulties in transporting grapes and the low prices they sell.

On the same day, the National Confederation of Agriculture (CNA) delivered a motion to the Prime Minister's official residence with the demands of the Douro winegrowers, namely a ban on purchasing grapes below production costs.