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National agriculture in the context of the Green Deal: less mineral fertilizers but more pesticides compared to the eu average
Agricultural statistics
National agriculture in the context of the Green Deal: less mineral fertilizers but more pesticides compared to the eu average - 2020
22 July 2021

Summary

Crop year 2019/2020 was characterized by a normal Autumn in relation to air temperature and precipitation, followed by an extremely hot winter (second hottest since 1931) and dry (78% of the average value). The regions south of the river Tejo recorded situations of meteorological drought, with greater persistence and severity in Baixo Alentejo and Algarve. Spring and Summer continued to be classified as very hot, especially July (the hottest since 1931).
The area sown with winter cereals was close to that registered in the previous campaign (-1.3%). The weather conditions in the grain-filling stage (high temperatures and punctual precipitation) were favourable for the vegetative development of these cereals, with a production similar to the average of the last five years. In summer crops there was a generalized decrease in areas, which resulted in production reductions of 12.8% for tomato for processing, 17.8% for rice and 9.7% for grain maize.
Animal production was similar to that recorded in the previous year.
Thus, agriculture globally went through a year marked by the COVID-19 pandemic showing a resilience that was not evident in many other sectors of national economic activity.
In this press release, a detailed analysis is made of the Agriculture and Environment indicators, part of a specific chapter of the Publication, which provide relevant official statistical information from the perspective of the Green Deal, in the context of the European Union (EU27), of which highlights:
• Portugal is the Member State (MS) in the EU27 with the lowest consumption of mineral fertilizers (nitrogen and phosphorus), recording in 2019 an apparent consumption of 31 kg per hectare of Utilized Agricultural Area (UAA), less than half the EU27 average (68 kg per hectare of UAA);
• In 2019, 2.2 kilograms of active substance from the main groups of pesticides were sold per hectare of UAA, an amount above the European average (1.8 kilograms of active substance per hectare of UAA);
• In 2019, only 5.3% of UAA was certified for organic production;
• The importance of Greenhouse Gases (GHG) emitted by agricultural activities in Portugal in 2019 (10.1%) was close to the EU27 average (10.3%).

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Press release
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