Cereal production in the Alentejo has increased this year in quantity, but with lower quality due to soil leaching, caused by excess water that washed away fertilizers, a group of producers warned today.
Speaking to the Lusa news agency, the head of Cersul – Agrupamento de Produtores de Cereais do Sul, José Maria Falcão, also pointed out that this agricultural year is passing “without drought”, mainly in the district of Portalegre, although there are some occasional cases in the Baixo Alentejo.
“It’s a year without water problems, in some places even with excess water in periods that were unnecessary,” he said.
Cersul has around 210 members, representing a total area of around 40,000 hectares, mainly in the Alentejo districts of Portalegre and Évora.
According to the same leader, it has been “a good year” in terms of the quantity of cereals, but “not a good year in terms of quality”.
“There was a lot of leaching, a lot of fertilizer washed away with the excess water. On the other hand, it was very difficult to reconcile the nitrogen fertilizations that give the grain more quality and protein,” he explained.
José Maria Falcão also pointed out that cereal producers are recording high average yields, but with grain quality values that are “well below average”, giving the durum wheat sector as an example.
And related to this type of cereal, there is “a very serious problem”, which is the drop in the price paid to producers, he said.
“Last year, durum wheat reached 400 euros per ton and now, in international prices, it doesn’t reach 250 euros,” which “is completely disastrous,” he said, lamenting: “It’s very difficult to produce cereals with this irregularity.”
When asked about corn production, the Cersul manager said that it is “perfectly guaranteed” in the Caia river region, in Elvas (Portalegre), but stressed that “less and less” is being grown in that region.
The Caia irrigation perimeter, he stressed, “is sustained” by crops such as olives, almonds and tomatoes and “almost no corn is grown”, despite it being “a good year” for this type of cereal.
Cersul – Agrupamento de Produtores de Cereais do Sul was the first grouping of cereal and oilseed producers in the country to be set up.
Based in Elvas, it was created in 1990, recognized as a producer group in 1991 and as a producer organization in 2012.
The company is responsible for receiving, conditioning and marketing cereals and oilseeds, as well as acting as a central purchasing center for production factors and providing services.