Invest in Alentejo flies to the Netherlands for an Agroindustry mission
EDIA – Empresa de Desenvolvimento de Infra-estruturas do Alqueva, S.A, leads an institutional mission to the Netherlands, until May 20, to present the Alqueva Multiple Purpose Enterprise and the potential of agribusiness in the Alentejo region, with the support of the Invest in Alentejo mission, promoted by ADRAL – Agência de Desenvolvimento Regional do Alentejo.
The mission kicked off Monday with a visit to vegetable and seed production company, Rijk Zwaan, based in De Lier, currently ranked as the fourth-largest vegetable growing company in the world, that produces 25 different types is of vegetables, including lettuce, tomato, cucumber, bell pepper and brussel sprouts.
On the second day, May 17, the entourage visited, also in De Lier, the Dutch company Priva, which sells climate control equipment and software, horticultural processes and buildings, being the world leader in horticulture.
On the third day, the morning was dedicated to the visit to Eurofins Agro Testing Wageningen BV, which helps growers and farmers to collect accurate data on soil and crop health, fertilization, value of forage and food security, with the mission to ensure better productions with less shocking environmental footprints. During the afternoon, the entourage met with Wageningen University & Research, an international reference Research Centre for horticulture and hydroponic, that cooperates with leading companies in the sector, in the framework of concept validations and solutions.
Today, aware that water is an absolutely indispensable natural resource for agricultural activity, key to managing responsibly and sustainably, EDIA, ADRAL and other partners, visited Unie Van Waterschappen. The association creates water councils that together intersect with governments, the business community, and knowledge production centers to better manage resources, purify wastewater and even prevent flooding.
The afternoon of this fourth mission day was reserved for a roundtable at the residence of the Ambassador of Portugal in the Netherlands, António de Almeida Lima, for the discussion of strategies to take better advantage of the opportunities created through this mission.
This mission’s delegation is made up of several entities from the Alqueva region and from different areas of agribusiness. In addition to EDIA and ADRAL, the main farmers and businesses in the region joined the group (APBA – Associação de Proprietários e Beneficiários do Alqueva; AABA – Associação de Agricultores do Baixo Alentejo; ACOS – Agricultores do Sul; FAABA – Federação das Associações de Agricultores do Baixo Alentejo; Cooperativa de Beja e Brinches, Portugal; FRESH – Frutas, Legumes e Flores e Olivum – Associação de Olivicultores do Sul; Instituto Politécnico de Beja – Escola Superior Agrária de Beja, COTR – Centro Operativo Tecnológico do Regadio, Direção Regional de Agricultura do Alentejo and Ministério da Agricultura).
EDIA – Empresa de Desenvolvimento e Infra-estruturas do Alqueva, S.A. in collaboration with ADRAL – Agência de Desenvolvimento Regional do Alentejo, through the Invest in Alentejo initiative.
