The Algfuturo association and the producer organizations Frusoal and Madre Fruta went public "in defense of the honor and good name of the Algarve and its farmers", in an open letter in response to "very serious falsehoods" in relation to irrigated crops, in the Algarve, «in particular that of avocado».
This letter is addressed "to official regional and national officials and other detractors of irrigated crops in the Algarve, in particular that of avocado, who falsely claim to be of an intensive nature."
The letter is signed not only by these three entities, but also "by 1500 members of Algfuturo, members of the 29 member associations and individually", according to the association, which claims that "official regional and national entities point to harmful effects to avocado it has and hides its many virtues».
To counteract the information that they claim is not correct, the subscribers of the letter assure that they will investigate and disclose the whole truth about the avocado/avocado tree.
At issue were the positions taken by various parties and associations for the protection of the environment in relation to a controversial 128-hectare avocado production mega project in the parishes of Luz and Bensafrim and Barão de São João, whose installation was practically completed at the time the exploration's Environmental Impact Assessment was still under public consultation.
As criticism of associations This project is due not only to the environmental impact of the project itself, namely in terms of water resources and the debris to which the land was subjected, but also to alleged illegalities committed by the promoter of this avocado orchard.
The PAN, the Left Block and the PS took the matter to the Assembly of the Republic and asked for tighter rules for crops in intensive and super intensive, which always need large amounts of water.
O PAN requested an urgent hearing of the Minister of the Environment, pointing out the irregularities of the entire process, while the BE recommended to the Government to "establish a moratorium regime, preventing the installation of new farms of avocado, olive groves, almonds and other crops in an intensive and super-intensive regime".
The Socialists went down a similar path and asked the government to set rules for new avocado farms in the region, taking into account the issue of drought and lack of water.
The PS recommended the approval of a moratorium suspending new avocado farms in the Algarve region and that, through the Ministry of Environment and Climate Action and the Ministry of Agriculture, set, within a maximum period of 90 days, the minimum conditions for sustainability to be observed for new explorations, namely water availability, by the promoter, under the prior opinion of the national water authority.
These recommendations did not sit well with producer associations and open letter signatories.
"Our position is to rigorously carry out surveys and then take global measures, without establishing periods of 90 or 180 days banning new plantings, which is deadly for the confidence of national and foreign investors", they defend.
The survey mentioned is that of wasted water, namely in degraded municipal pipes, in the irrigation of green spaces and «thousands of private swimming pools», where losses are recorded, the sum of which «points to a sufficient amount of water to irrigate about 2000 hectares of avocado trees”
“The position of the farmers is one of cooperation, but rejection of what has been made public, remaining, however, open to dialogue through their representative organizations, hoping that the ideas that the detractors have supported change”, they conclude.
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