PORTUGAL, JC PORTUGAL DMC

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Agriculture & local productions

• Agriculture in Portugal
• Farming

Agriculture in Portugal

Agriculture in Portugal is based on small to medium-sized family-owned dispersed units. The extent of cooperative organization has been reaching a greater importance with globalization. Portugal produces a wide variety of crops and livestock products. Forestry has also played an important economic role among the rural communities. In 2001, the gross agricultural product accounted for 4% of the national GDP. Portugal is one of the world's largest producers of wine and cork. 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.
Agriculture employs 20% of the workforce.
Agriculture is very little mechanized Portugal , however, the production of vegetables is very important ( onions, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, cabbage).
The systems used are still similar to those of old, evolved slowly.
In terms of their organization, the North , the existing structure is that of small individual properties . In the South, they are large landowners who use day laborers .
On the whole main productions are cereals ( north of maize , southern wheat )as well as vines , olives, fruits and vegetables, cattle and sheep ( which is insufficient for domestic consumption ) , cork , and fishing (sardines, tuna , anchovies) .
The farming system , archaic , has never occupied a place on the world market for food products , with the exception of the winemaking. With excellent wines ( Vino Verde , for example) . Indeed, the vine is the only production placing Portugal in the first place world producers, and the third- world producers of wine per capita .