The Santa Cruz Municipal Council has announced it is working on two new support measures to be included in the Agricultural Sector Support Regulation. One will be a direct financial incentive for agricultural production, aimed at promoting the "existence, maintenance, increase, and enhancement of agricultural crops considered strategic for the municipality." This support will not require prior expenses or invoice submission.
The second measure targets pest control, a situation that the Mayor, Élia Ascensão, described as "catastrophic and out of control." Ascensão appealed to the Secretary of Agriculture for a regional strategy, as pests do not respect municipal borders and their spread requires measures covering the entire territory.
Since 2019, the council has been supporting the agricultural sector with a program that has already covered 206 applications and a global investment of over 428,000 euros, focusing on family farming, land and water valorization, and recovery of fallow land.
