Agriculture in Portugal - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Agriculture in Portugal is based on small to medium-sized family-owned dispersed units, however, the sector also includes larger scale intensive farming

Intensive farming

Intensive farming or intensive agriculture is an agricultural production system characterized by the high inputs of capital, labour, or heavy usage of technologies such as pesticides and chemical fertilizers relative to land area....

export-oriented agrobusinesses backed by companies (like Grupo RAR

Grupo RAR

Refinarias de Açúcar Reunidas , is a Portugal-based international industrial and agribusiness conglomerate headquartered in Porto, and active in several businesses, including sugar and fresh salads production and distribution. RAR is also the owner of packaging company ColepCCL and chocolatier...

's Vitacress

Vitacress

Vitacress Salads Ltd. is an agriculture company headquartered in St Mary Bourne, Andover, Hampshire, England. It is a fully owned subsidiary of Portugal-based company Grupo RAR. The company, which was founded in the 1950s by Malcolm Isaac, is Europe's largest provider of watercress, and also grows...

, Sovena, Lactogal

Lactogal

Lactogal is a Portuguese food products company focused on dairy products, milk, fruit juice and mineral water. It is headquartered in Porto and is placed among the twenty largest agro-food European companies...

, Vale da Rosa

Vale da Rosa

Vale da Rosa is a Portuguese company and table grape brand, headquartered in Ferreira do Alentejo. It produces table grapes, including seedless grapes, for the export market....

, Companhia das Lezírias

Companhia das Lezírias

The Companhia das Lezírias or CL for short , is a state-run agriculture and forestry company located in the Lezíria do Tejo subregion, and headquartered in Samora Correia, Benavente municipality, Portugal. It was founded in the 19th century by the Portuguese Crown...

and Valouro

Valouro

Grupo Valouro or simply Valouro, is one of the largest economic groups in Portuguese agrobusiness industry and the biggest in the poultry sector...

). The extent of cooperative

Cooperative

A cooperative is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit...

organisation has been reaching a greater importance with globalization

Globalization

Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...

. Portugal produces a wide variety of crops and livestock

Livestock

Livestock refers to one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. The term "livestock" as used in this article does not include poultry or farmed fish; however the inclusion of these, especially poultry, within the meaning...

products, including green vegetables, rice

Rice

Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...

, corn

Corn

Corn is the name used in the United States, Canada, and Australia for the grain maize.In much of the English-speaking world, the term "corn" is a generic term for cereal crops, such as* Barley* Oats* Wheat* Rye- Places :...

, barley

Barley

Barley is a major cereal grain, a member of the grass family. It serves as a major animal fodder, as a base malt for beer and certain distilled beverages, and as a component of various health foods...

, olive

Olive

The olive , Olea europaea), is a species of a small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean Basin as well as northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea.Its fruit, also called the olive, is of major agricultural importance in the...

s, oilseeds, nuts

Nut (fruit)

A nut is a hard-shelled fruit of some plants having an indehiscent seed. While a wide variety of dried seeds and fruits are called nuts in English, only a certain number of them are considered by biologists to be true nuts...

, cherries, bilberry

Bilberry

Bilberry is any of several species of low-growing shrubs in the genus Vaccinium , bearing edible berries. The species most often referred to is Vaccinium myrtillus L., but there are several other closely related species....

, table grapes, edible mushroom

Edible mushroom

Edible mushrooms are the fleshy and edible fruiting bodies of several species of fungi. Mushrooms belong to the macrofungi, because their fruiting structures are large enough to be seen with the naked eye. They can appear either below ground or above ground where they may be picked by hand...

s, dairy products, poultry

Poultry

Poultry are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of producing eggs, meat, and/or feathers. These most typically are members of the superorder Galloanserae , especially the order Galliformes and the family Anatidae , commonly known as "waterfowl"...

and beef

Beef

Beef is the culinary name for meat from bovines, especially domestic cattle. Beef can be harvested from cows, bulls, heifers or steers. It is one of the principal meats used in the cuisine of the Middle East , Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Europe and the United States, and is also important in...

. Forestry

Forestry

Forestry is the interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands...

has also played an important economic role among the rural communities and industry (namely paper industry that includes Portucel Soporcel Group, engineered wood

Engineered wood

Engineered wood, also called composite wood, man-made wood, or manufactured board; includes a range of derivative wood products which are manufactured by binding the strands, particles, fibers, or veneers of wood, together with adhesives, to form composite materials...

that includes Sonae Indústria

Sonae Indústria

Sonae Indústria is a manufacturer of engineered wood products, founded and headquartered in Maia, Portugal. Present in twelve countries within three continents, Sonae Indústria has a wide range of products, from simple board to complete construction systems, a large range of wood-based products...

, and furniture

Furniture

Furniture is the mass noun for the movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating and sleeping in beds, to hold objects at a convenient height for work using horizontal surfaces above the ground, or to store things...

that includes several manufacturing plants in and around Paços de Ferreira

Paços de Ferreira

Paços de Ferreira is a city in Portugal. It is sometimes also called Capital do Móvel , since the city is home to numerous furniture manufacturing plants. Besides older Portuguese furniture companies, Portugal's major industrial operations of IKEA are also located there...

, the core of Portugal's major industrial operations of IKEA

IKEA

IKEA is a privately held, international home products company that designs and sells ready-to-assemble furniture such as beds and desks, appliances and home accessories. The company is the world's largest furniture retailer...

). In 2001, the gross agricultural product accounted for 4% of the national GDP. Portugal is one of the world's largest producers of wine

Wine

Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...

and cork

Cork (material)

Cork is an impermeable, buoyant material, a prime-subset of bark tissue that is harvested for commercial use primarily from Quercus suber , which is endemic to southwest Europe and northwest Africa...

. The land area of slightly more than 9.2 million hectares was classified as follows (in thousands of hectares): 2,755 arable land and permanent crops (including 710 in permanent crops), 530 permanent pasture, 3,640 forest and woodland, and 2,270 other land.

History

Agriculture, forestry, and fishing employed 17.8 percent of Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

's labor force but accounted for only 6.2 percent of GDP in 1990. With the principal exception of the alluvial soils of the Tagus

Tagus

The Tagus is the longest river on the Iberian Peninsula. It is long, in Spain, along the border between Portugal and Spain and in Portugal, where it empties into the Atlantic Ocean at Lisbon. It drains an area of . The Tagus is highly utilized for most of its course...

River valley and the irrigated sections of the Alentejo, crop yields and animal productivity remained well below those of the other European Community (EC) members. Portugal's agro-food deficit (attributable mainly to grain, oilseed, and meat imports) represented about 2.5 percent of GDP, but its surplus on forestry products (wood, cork, and paper pulp) offset its food deficit.

Portugal's overall agricultural performance was unfavorable when viewed in the context of the country's natural resources and climatic conditions. Agricultural productivity (gross farm output per person employed) was well below that of the other West European countries in 1985, at half of the levels in Greece and Spain and a quarter of the EC average.

A number of factors contributed to Portugal's poor agricultural performance. First, the level of investment in agriculture was traditionally very low. The number of tractors and the quantity of fertilizer used per unit area was one-third the European Community average in the mid-1980s. Second, farms in the north were small and fragmented; half of them were less than one hectare in size, and 86 percent less than five hectares. Third, the collective farms set up in the south after the 1974-75 expropriations due to the leftist military coup

Carnation Revolution

The Carnation Revolution , also referred to as the 25 de Abril , was a military coup started on 25 April 1974, in Lisbon, Portugal, coupled with an unanticipated and extensive campaign of civil resistance...

of 25 April 1974, proved incapable of modernizing, and their efficiency declined. Fourth, poor productivity was associated with the low level of education of farmers. Finally, distribution channels and economic infrastructure were inadequate in parts of the country. According to government estimates, about 9,000 km² (2,200,000 acres) of agricultural land were occupied between April 1974 and December 1975 in the name of land reform; about 32% of the occupations were ruled illegal. In January 1976, the government pledged to restore the illegally occupied land to its owners, and in 1977, it promulgated the Land Reform Review Law. Restoration of illegally occupied land began in 1978.

Following its adhesion in 1986 to the European Economic Community

European Economic Community

The European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) The European Economic Community (EEC) (also known as the Common Market in the English-speaking world, renamed the European Community (EC) in 1993The information in this article primarily covers the EEC's time as an independent...

(EEC), now the European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

(EU), Portugal's agriculture, like in other EU member states, has been heavily shaped by the Common Agricultural Policy

Common Agricultural Policy

The Common Agricultural Policy is a system of European Union agricultural subsidies and programmes. It represents 48% of the EU's budget, €49.8 billion in 2006 ....

(CAP). With the reform of CAP, a significant reduction in the number of producers through consolidation (especially in the Norte and Centro regions) resulted in the end of traditional, subsistence-like based agriculture.

In 1998, 28% of the land was considered arable. Of the 26,000 km² (7 million acres), 74% was cultivated with seasonal crops and 26% was under permanent crops. In 2001, the gross agricultural product accounted for 4% of GDP. Estimates of agriculture production in 1999 included potatoes, 1,150,000 tons; tomatoes, 1,176,000 tons; corn, 1,092,000 tons; wheat, 400,000 tons; olives, 262,000 tons; rice, 159,000 tons; and rye, 52,000 tons. Production of olive oil reached 36,000 tons in 1999. Wine, particularly port and Madeira from the Douro region and the Madeira islands, is an important agricultural export; production totaled 679,000 tons in 1999, down from 1,137,000 tons in 1990. Portugal is the world's seventh-largest producer of wine, although Portugal's wines are mostly unknown internationally apart from port and rosé. Under the influence of EU policies, vineyard areas have been reduced in recent years. In 2001, the value of agricultural products imported by Portugal exceeded that of agricultural exports by $2.56 billion.

Major agricultural products

Portugal's climatic and topographic conditions allow for an extremely large number of crops, including olive

Olive

s, fig

Ficus

Ficus is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes, and hemiepiphyte in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending into the semi-warm temperate zone. The Common Fig Ficus is a genus of...

s, citrus

Citrus

Citrus is a common term and genus of flowering plants in the rue family, Rutaceae. Citrus is believed to have originated in the part of Southeast Asia bordered by Northeastern India, Myanmar and the Yunnan province of China...

, mushroom

Mushroom

A mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source. The standard for the name "mushroom" is the cultivated white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus; hence the word "mushroom" is most often applied to those fungi that...

s, sunflower

Sunflower

Sunflower is an annual plant native to the Americas. It possesses a large inflorescence . The sunflower got its name from its huge, fiery blooms, whose shape and image is often used to depict the sun. The sunflower has a rough, hairy stem, broad, coarsely toothed, rough leaves and circular heads...

, tomato

Tomato

The word "tomato" may refer to the plant or the edible, typically red, fruit which it bears. Originating in South America, the tomato was spread around the world following the Spanish colonization of the Americas, and its many varieties are now widely grown, often in greenhouses in cooler...

es, cereal

Cereal

Cereals are grasses cultivated for the edible components of their grain , composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran...

s, banana

Banana

Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red....

s (in Madeira Island) and pineapple

Pineapple

Pineapple is the common name for a tropical plant and its edible fruit, which is actually a multiple fruit consisting of coalesced berries. It was given the name pineapple due to its resemblance to a pine cone. The pineapple is by far the most economically important plant in the Bromeliaceae...

(in São Miguel Island

São Miguel Island

São Miguel Island , nicknamed "The Green Island", is the largest and most populous island in the Portuguese Azores archipelago. The island covers and has around 140,000 inhabitants, 45,000 of these people located in the largest city in the archipelago: Ponta Delgada.-History:In 1427, São Miguel...

). Wine

Wine

, table grapes, leaf vegetable

Leaf vegetable

Leaf vegetables, also called potherbs, green vegetables, greens, leafy greens or salad greens, are plant leaves eaten as a vegetable, sometimes accompanied by tender petioles and shoots...

s, dairy

Dairy

A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting of animal milk—mostly from cows or goats, but also from buffalo, sheep, horses or camels —for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on a dedicated dairy farm or section of a multi-purpose farm that is concerned...

, tomato

Tomato

es for processing, rice

Rice

, sugar beet

Sugar beet

Sugar beet, a cultivated plant of Beta vulgaris, is a plant whose tuber contains a high concentration of sucrose. It is grown commercially for sugar production. Sugar beets and other B...

s, mushroom

Mushroom

s, cork

Cork (material)

and olive

Olive

s are very competitive. Improved marketing practices since the 1990s, enabled fresh horticultural and fruit

Fruit

In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...

products of Portuguese origin to become widely demanded in both the domestic and export markets.

Beef

The European Union recognises the following Portuguese Protected Designation of Origin

Protected designation of origin

Protected Geographical Status is a legal framework defined in European Union law to protect the names of regional foods. Protected Designation of Origin , Protected Geographical Indication and Traditional Speciality Guaranteed are distinct regimes of geographical indications within the framework...

beef brands:

Carne Alentejana, Carne Arouquesa, Carne Barrosã, Carne Cachena da Peneda
Cachena Cattle
The Cachena Cattle is a triple purpose cattle breed from Portugal and Spain. In Portugal, it known by the alternative name, Barrosão or Barrosã...

, Carne da Charneca, Carne de Bovino Cruzado dos Lameiros do Barroso, Carne dos Açores
Azores
The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...

, Carne Marinhoa, Carne Maronesa, Carne Mertolenga, Carne Mirandesa.

Cheeses

Portugal produces a wide variety of cheese

Cheese

Cheese is a generic term for a diverse group of milk-based food products. Cheese is produced throughout the world in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms....

s. There are certified cheese-producing regions, including D.O.C./Protected designation of origin

Protected designation of origin

(Denominação de Origem Controlada
Denominação de Origem Controlada
The Denominação de Origem Controlada is the system of protected designation of origin for wines, cheeses, butters, and other agricultural products from Portugal.-Wines:...

). These include the Castelo Branco cheese

Castelo Branco cheese

Castelo Branco is a cheese named after the city of the same name in Portugal, the chief city of the district where it is produced. The cheese is made from milk produced by either a goat or a ewe, and has a soft texture. Typically, the cheese takes 40 days to mature when made with goat's milk, and...

, Saloio

Saloio

Saloio is a brand of Portuguese cheese manufactured in the region of Ponte do Rol, 50 km north of Lisbon. It is made from sheep's milk with no salt. It is a firm cheese usually served in small cylinders that are 5 cm wide and 6 cm high....

, Santarém cheese

Santarém cheese

Santarém is a goat cheese from Portugal produced in several regions of Portugal, but especially in the Santarém district and in Serra de Santo António. It is best eaten ripe, although it can be eaten fresh, in servings of between 50 grams to 100 grams. It is preserved in good quality edible oil....

, and Serra da Estrela cheese

Serra da Estrela cheese

Serra da Estrela is a cheese from the cold and mountainous region of Serra da Estrela in Portugal, which has been granted PDO status in the European Union...

Fruit

Pêra Rocha
Pêra Rocha
Pêra Rocha is an native Portuguese variety of pear. The earliest account of the Rocha variety dates from 1836, in the Sintra municipality. This variety was casually obtained from a seed, on Pedro António Rocha's farm. The variety derives its name from his family name. The Rocha pear is produced in...

(pear), Cova da Beira

Cova da Beira

Cova da Beira is a NUTS3 subregion of Portugal integrated in the NUTS2 Centro region. It lies in the fertile valley between the Serra da Estrela and Gardunha mountains. It covers an area of 1,373 km², with a population of 92,460 inhabitants for a density of 67 hab/km². The major cities are Covilhã ...

's cherries, a number of chestnut producing regions, and the Laranja do Algarve (oranges), are examples of well-known Portuguese certified products.

Pork

Pork is also a very popular meat in Portugal. Pork meat is often served with acorn

Acorn

The acorn, or oak nut, is the nut of the oaks and their close relatives . It usually contains a single seed , enclosed in a tough, leathery shell, and borne in a cup-shaped cupule. Acorns vary from 1–6 cm long and 0.8–4 cm broad...

s and white truffles that are commonly found in the large oak

Oak

An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...

grove (genus Quercus) of the country. The Carne de Porco Alentejano has the status of Protected Designation of Origin

Protected designation of origin

(POD). There are many dishes with pork like the carne de porco à alentejana
Carne de Porco à Alentejana
Carne de Porco à Alentejana is one of the most traditional and popular pork dishes of Portuguese cuisine. It is typical from the Alentejo region, in Portugal, hence the word Alentejana in its name...

and the typical leitão (roasted piglet). Pork made presunto
Presunto
Presunto is the name given to dry-cured ham from Portugal, similar to Spanish jamón or Italian prosciutto crudo.Among the wide variety of presuntos in Portugal, the most famous are presunto from Chaves, produced in the north of Portugal, and that from the Alentejo, in the south, made from local...

, a dry-cured ham

Ham

Ham is a cut of meat from the thigh of the hind leg of certain animals, especiallypigs. Nearly all hams sold today are fully cooked or cured.-Etymology:...

, is also typical and popular, as well as fiambre, a wet-cured ham.

Wines

The quality and great variety of wines in Portugal are due to noble castas, microclimates, soils and proper technology.

Official designations:

Quality Wine Produced in a Specific Region (QWPSR) or VQPRD - Vinho de Qualidade Produzido em Região Demarcada
- These are the most protected wine and indicates a specific vineyard, such as Port Wine, Vinhos Verdes, and Alentejo Wines. These wines are labeled D.O.C. (Denominação de Origem Controlada) which secures a superior quality.
Wines that have more regulations placed upon them but are not in a DOC region fall under the category of Indicação de Proveniência Regulamentada (IPR, Indication of Regulated Provenance).
Regional Wine - Vinho Regional Carries with it a specific region within Portugal.
Table Wines - Vinho de Mesa carries with it only the producer and the designation that it is from Portugal.

Agribusiness

Among the largest companies in the agricultural and agribusiness

Agribusiness

In agriculture, agribusiness is a generic term for the various businesses involved in food production, including farming and contract farming, seed supply, agrichemicals, farm machinery, wholesale and distribution, processing, marketing, and retail sales....

sector of Portugal are such examples as Grupo RAR

Grupo RAR

(owner of Vitacress

Vitacress

), Companhia das Lezírias

Companhia das Lezírias

, Vale da Rosa

Vale da Rosa

Vale da Rosa is a Portuguese company and table grape brand, headquartered in Ferreira do Alentejo. It produces table grapes, including seedless grapes, for the export market....

, Sovena Group, Sumol + Compal

Sumol + Compal

Sumol + Compal is a Portuguese food and beverages company specializing in soft drink production and bottling. The company's principal activities are the manufacturing, marketing, bottling, selling, exporting, and distribution of various types of beverages, such as soft drinks, juices, nectars,...

, Sogrape

Sogrape

The Sogrape Vinhos S.A. is a Portuguese winery founded in 1942 by Fernando van Zeller Guedes as “Sociedade Comercial dos Grandes Vinhos de Mesa de Portugal”.Its first product was the rosé wine Mateus...

, Derovo

Derovo

Derovo - Derivados de ovos, S.A. is a Portugal-based company headquartered in Pombal and founded in 1994, specialized in the production of pasteurized egg products, in the production of boiled eggs, in the production of Fullprotein , and develops egg-based products to the needs of its customers,...

, Frulact

Frulact

Frulact - Ingredientes para a Indústria de Laticínios, Lda. is a food industry company specialized in fruit processing, headquartered in Maia, Portugal. Its aim is the manufacture of food products like fruit compounds for food industries. It has industrial and commercial facilities in Maia,...

, Amorim

Amorim

Amorim is a Portuguese surname. A habitational name from any of the various places named Amorim, originally Amorini, from the name of the estate owner.It may refer to:- People :*Ana Amorim, Brazilian handball player...

, Delta

Delta Cafés

Delta Cafés , officially named Novadelta - Comércio e Indústria de Cafes, S.A., is a Portuguese coffee roasting and coffee packaging company headquartered in Campo Maior, Alentejo. The company was founded in 1961 and is among the top market leaders in the Iberian Peninsula...

, Valouro

Valouro

Grupo Valouro or simply Valouro, is one of the largest economic groups in Portuguese agrobusiness industry and the biggest in the poultry sector...

and Lactogal

Lactogal

. The leading Portuguese brewer Unicer

Unicer

União Cervejeira SA , is a Portuguese beer producer, owner of several beer brands, including Super Bock, Cristal, Cheers, Cool Beer, Clok, and is the Portuguese distributor for Carlsberg, Tuborg, Guinness, Tetley's, and Kilkenny. One of the most famous is Super Bock, the market leader in the country...

, developed and supported agriculture projects for barley

Barley

producers in Portugal. Its aim was the increase of Portuguese high-quality malt

Malt

Malt is germinated cereal grains that have been dried in a process known as "malting". The grains are made to germinate by soaking in water, and are then halted from germinating further by drying with hot air...

for use in the producing process of its beer

Beer

Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...

Retail market and distribution

Competitors are always well represented at Portuguese agricultural fairs and food-related shows. Other nations advertise in Portugal's food magazines and on television, and join with hotels in weekly menu promotions, complete with food products, cooks, exhibits and decorations.

Competition also heats up among Portuguese and foreign firms over extremely expensive hypermarket shelf space. Suppliers fight to maintain and expand exposure of their products as the number of hypermarket

Hypermarket

In commerce, a hypermarket is a superstore combining a supermarket and a department store. The result is an expansive retail facility carrying a wide range of products under one roof, including full groceries lines and general merchandise...

s boomed since the 1990s. The struggle is getting even more intense as larger stores continue to carry more private label products, constricting shelf space even more for branded products. Modelo Continente, Jerónimo Martins

Jerónimo Martins

Jerónimo Martins SGPS, SA is a Portugal-based company that operates in food distribution and consumer products manufacturing. The firm is the majority owner of Jerónimo Martins Retail , which operates the Pingo Doce super- and hypermarket chains in Portugal...

, Lidl

Lidl

Lidl is a discount supermarket chain based in Germany that operates over 7,200 stores across Europe. The company's full name is Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG...

and Auchan

Auchan

Groupe Auchan SA is a French international retail group and multinational corporation headquartered in Croix, France. It is one of the world's principal distribution groups with a presence in 12 countries and 175,000 employees....

are the biggest retailers.

Local manufacturers felt the squeeze on profit margins as big retailers preferred to cut costs by buying from neighboring countries. France and Spain dominate consumer-ready frozen and non-frozen food products. Spanish fruits and horticultural products are easily found all over Portugal's hypermarket and supermarket

Supermarket

A supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...

chains. The European Union, South America, the Middle East and China also compete with dried fruits, tree nuts, pulses and prepared product markets.

With a land area about the size of the North American state of Indiana

Indiana

Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...

, Portugal maintains quite a varied distribution network. The food distribution structure includes wholesalers, retailers (hypermarkets, supermarkets, cooperatives, small business

Small business

A small business is a business that is privately owned and operated, with a small number of employees and relatively low volume of sales. Small businesses are normally privately owned corporations, partnerships, or sole proprietorships...

es, convenience stores), institutions and associations. Portuguese retailers generally make their purchases through a broker from the manufacturer or directly from a distributor, cash-and-carry store, traditional wholesaler or from retailer associations and cooperatives. The associations and cooperatives, made up mostly of small store owners, help members increase purchasing power, compete with larger stores and access training and trade seminars. But the role of import agents and traditional brokers declined, and retailers are becoming more adept at direct importing.

Hypermarkets and supermarkets, including joint ventures between the Portuguese and French, control over 50 percent of retail food sales. The Portuguese government put the brakes on the tremendous growth of hypermarkets in an effort to protect smaller retailers. With their high buying power, the hypermarkets can be more competitive in pricing and could easily squeeze smaller businesses out of the marketplace.

Organic farming

Organic farming is the form of agriculture that relies on techniques such as crop rotation, green manure, compost and biological pest control to maintain soil productivity and control pests on a farm...

in Portugal

Portugal

has steadily increased in the past years. From only 73 producers in 1993, it rapidly grew to more than 1,500 in 2005. Today, more than 2,000 km² are managed organically, which testifies to the prevailing dynamics. The farmers’ sudden interest in organic agriculture clearly has to do with the financial support offered by the European Union

European Union

and higher market prices. In some cases, such as the olive groves of the northern and central regions, traditional farming approximates organic farming methods, which eases conversion. With horticulture or orchards, the change is not so easy, and therefore there are not as many farmers converting. The supply is still less than the demand, reflecting the fact that organic farming is still at an initial stage. The Portuguese are growing more conscious of health and the environment, which explains the rising interest in natural foods and fibres. Their increasing purchasing power encourages this development. However, these positive factors for the expansion of organic production may not be enough to guarantee a continuous increase in the future, since several obstacles hinder the farmers’ performance.

Education, training and research in Agriculture

There are several vocational and higher education

Higher education in Portugal

Higher education in Portugal is divided into two main subsystems: university and polytechnic education. It is provided in autonomous public universities, private universities, public or private university institutes, polytechnic institutions and higher education institutions of other types...

institutions devoted to the teaching of agricultural science

Agricultural science

Agricultural science is a broad multidisciplinary field that encompasses the parts of exact, natural, economic and social sciences that are used in the practice and understanding of agriculture. -Agriculture and agricultural science:The two terms are often confused...

s in Portugal

Portugal

. Almost all state-run polytechnic

Polytechnic (Portugal)

A polytechnic is a higher education educational institution in Portugal created in the 1980s. After 1998 they were upgraded to institutions which are allowed to confer licenciatura degrees. Before then, they only awarded short-cycle degrees which were known as bacharelatos and didn't provide...

institutes (there are 15 across the country), have a school of agriculture awarding bachelor's and masters' degrees in the subject. The Escola Superior Agrária de Coimbra
Escola Superior Agrária de Coimbra
The Escola Superior Agrária de Coimbra , in English the Agrarian School of Coimbra, is a state-run polytechnic higher education school of agriculture, based in Coimbra, Portugal...

, belonging to the Polytechnical Institute of Coimbra

Polytechnical Institute of Coimbra

The Polytechnical Institute of Coimbra is a public polytechnic institute of higher education in Coimbra, Portugal. It was created by decree of 1979, but its effective start up was only in 1988 through the creation and union of new and former schools...

, is the oldest polytechnic institution of agriculture. There is also a number of universities awarding bachelor's, masters' and doctorate degrees in varied agricultural science subfields. The Instituto Superior de Agronomia
Instituto Superior de Agronomia
Instituto Superior de Agronomia , School of Agronomy - Technical University of Lisbon, is a national and international renowned faculty of excellence for graduation and post-graduation studies in Agronomy, Forestry, Food Science, Landscape Architecture, Environment, Animal Production, Plant...

(ISA), the university school of agronomy

Agronomy

Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants for food, fuel, feed, fiber, and reclamation. Agronomy encompasses work in the areas of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and soil science. Agronomy is the application of a combination of sciences like biology,...

of the Technical University of Lisbon

Technical University of Lisbon

The Technical University of Lisbon is a Portuguese public university. It was created in 1930 in Lisbon, as a confederation of older schools, and comprises, nowadays, the faculties and institutes of veterinary medicine; agricultural sciences; economics and business administration; engineering,...

, is among the oldest, largest and most prestigious in the country regarding both the teaching of agricultural sciences and research. Other public universities like the University of the Algarve

University of the Algarve

The University of the Algarve is a Portuguese public university with administrative and financial autonomy. Its two campuses and the central administration are located in Faro, the capital city of the Algarve region. It has about 9,000 students.- History and organisation :It was founded at the end...

and the University of Évora

University of Évora

The University of Évora is a public university in Évora, Portugal.-History:The University of Évora, the second oldest in Portugal, was founded in the 16th century by Cardinal Infante Dom Henrique , and by the Pope Paul IV, and it was delivered to the Society of Jesus.The Jesuit college...

, have departments for both agronomy and agriculture, or related engineerings. The Instituto Nacional dos Recursos Biológicos (INRB) is the national research institute for agriculture and fisheries.

History

Major agricultural products

Beef

Cheeses

Fruit

Pork

Wines

Agribusiness

Retail market and distribution

Organic farming

Education, training and research in Agriculture

See also