The pressure of agriculture on the environment ranks Portugal as the Member State with the lower risk of pollution in the EU-15. However when comparing the response capacity of Member States to combat agriculture systems and agricultural practices more polluting to the environment, Portugal is positioned below the European average.

In Portugal, the effects of farming have strong impact on traditional landscapes (traditional preserved orchards and Douro Wine Region), causing structural changes followed by a decrease in both the number of holdings, and their dimension.

The structural features and evolution of agriculture allows to associate the type of higher risk to the environment and the preservation of natural resources, on a regional basis. Beira Interior and the Autonomous Region of Madeira have a higher risk of abandonment of agricultural land, while the change of land use is the key environmental risk more evident in the Algarve. In the Ribatejo and Oeste region, the growing adoption of more stringent cultural systems in production factors, and in the Azores the permanent loss of diversity of the production system, are the main risk factors for the environment.