Agrifood sector in Portugal (part II): the challenges of the European Green Deal and the new Common Agricultural Policy

To this end, a series of targets were established which include reducing the use of pesticides and fertilisers by 50% and 20%, respectively, and increasing the land area occupied by organic agriculture to 25%. In addition to these more agriculture-specific goals, there is a target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 55%.

The efforts to meet these goals will receive a significant boost from the vast amount of European funds that will be available over the next six years, including those allocated under the Next Generation EU programme. In this sphere, under component 5 of the Recovery and Resilience Plan devoted to business capitalisation and innovation, the Agenda for Research and Innovation for the Sustainability of Agriculture, Food and Agrifood was launched, which aims to promote the sustainable growth of the agrifood sector. This scheme has a budget of 93 million euros, of which 80 million euros are earmarked for the climate transition and 13 million euros for the digital transition. Two programmes have already been launched under this scheme, each amounting to 4 million euros: Agriculture 4.0, which aims to boost digitalisation and the application of information and communication technologies, and Sustainable Territories, which aims to promote sustainable development and efficient management of natural resources.

The first goal set in order to mitigate the effects of climate change in Europe is a 55% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. The role of the agricultural sector in achieving this goal is fundamental. Specifically, the aim is to reduce emissions of methane (CH₄), which is produced in the digestive process of livestock, in manure management and in rice cultivation; nitrous oxide (N₂O), which is produced by soils fertilised using nitrogen and manure; and carbon dioxide (CO₂), resulting from alterations in soil use. The agricultural sector can also contribute to the reduction of these emissions by increasing the land area occupied by forests or plants, which help to absorb CO₂.

In Portugal, the overall trend in these emissions since 2005 has been promising, and if the current emission reduction rates are maintained it is expected that the target set by the EU can be met. Despite this, the agricultural sector is on a different path to the economy as a whole, as it has seen a rise in these emissions since 2011. In 2019, the sector’s emissions amounted to 6.9 million tonnes, almost 4 million above the level that would be consistent with meeting the reduction target, contributing around 12% of the economy’s total emissions (11% in the EU and 13% in Spain). However, if we look at this indicator taking the utilised agricultural area (UAA) into account then the sector’s efforts become clear: between 2005 and 2019, greenhouse gas emissions per hectare fell from 23 to 16 tonnes, a clear indication of the improvements it has made from an environmental perspective.

The second target that has been set is a 50% reduction in the use of chemical pesticides by 2030. If we take the harmonised risk index as a measure of the reduction in pesticide use,1 Portugal fairs well, having cut their use by 25%. Nevertheless, this target will need to be monitored closely, as although significant reductions were achieved up to 2016, there has been some stagnation since then. Similarly, there has been a significant reduction (–30%) in the sale of pesticides since 2011, but in the last three years this trend has reversed. To meet the target, an average annual reduction of 780 tonnes per year will be required. This is well above the 32-tonne annual reduction recorded in the period 2017-2019.

Another important aspect where the agricultural sector can contribute to complying with the European Green Deal is the target to cut soil nutrient losses by 50% by 2030, which will help reduce the risk of soil, water and air pollution. Progress against this target is measured by calculating the nutrient balance,2 and in this regard Portugal shows unsatisfactory results. This is particularly the case for nitrogen, which in recent years has been showing a growing surplus, reaching 45 kilogrammes per hectare of utilised agricultural area in 2019. The phosphorus balance is also on the rise, although the surplus is smaller: 5.8 kilogrammes.

Another objective set out in the European Green Deal concerns the reduction of the isolation of rural areas, for instance through providing rural populations full access to broadband internet. The target is to achieve 100% coverage of these areas by 2025, and on this point Portugal is well positioned, since it already has 70% of these areas covered.

The final target for the sector is for 25% of agricultural area to be devoted to organic farming. According to Eurostat, in Portugal this percentage was 8.2% in 2019 and rising, but the pace of progress appears to be insufficient. The same applies to the proportion of agricultural land area that is occupied by high-diversity landscape features. On this point, the European Green Deal has a target to achieve 10%, with Portugal currently standing at 7.6%.