Terceira Island's Self Sustainability in Food Production: UNSDG #2

1. UNSDG#2
Terceira island´s self
sustainability in food production
Alice Oliveira, Inês Tonel and Sofia Vilaça
June 5-9, 2023

2. Portuguese Territory

3. Portugal
The territory includes:
• Mainland;
• Azores Archipelago;
• Madeira Archipelago.

4. AZORES ARCHIPELAGO
• The Azores Islands (or Autonomous Region of the Azores) is a Portuguese
autonomous region, with its own political-administrative status and government
bodies (Polido et al. 2016).
• The archipelago is composed by nine volcanic islands located in the center of the
North Atlantic Ocean, approximately 1500 km (930 miles) from Lisbon and
3900 km (2400 miles) from New York City (Ng et al. 2019).

5. AZORES ARCHIPELAGO

6. AZORES ARCHIPELAGO
• The Azores are part of the European Union with the status of an ultra peripheral
region of the Union;
• The maritime space corresponding to the Azores Exclusive Economic Zone is greater
than 950.000 km2 (366,000 square miles) and is a resource with great potential for the
future of the Azores Islands;
• The Azores have an undeniable geostrategic role in the relationship between Europe
and North America. This aspect has been exploited in various areas of Azorean activity,
both civil and military, and constitutes a resource of high importance and potential.

7. TERCEIRA ISLAND
The Terceira island has a total surface of 403 km2 (155 square miles), a coastline extension of
125km (77 miles), width of 19km (12 miles) and length of 30km (19 miles) and has its
highest point at the Serra de Santa Bárbara with an altitude of 1.020 meters (3,346 feet)
(Source: Univ. Açores / CLIMAAT);
The island is crossed by the Terceira rift, a geological structure associated with the triple
junction between the Eurasian, African and North American tectonic plates;
The island has two municipalities, Angra do Heroísmo and Praia da Vitória, whith 30 parishes
(19 in Angra do Heroísmo and 11 in Praia da Vitória);

8. TERCEIRA ISLAND
Google maps

9. TERCEIRA ISLAND SOILS
• The soils on the nine islands of the Azores are mostly of volcanic origin and belong to the
Andosols category;
• These soils are one of the stages in the creation of a soil of volcanic origin, acidic, and they
usually appear 200 years after a volcanic eruption, reaching their maximum development of their
characteristics about one hundred and fifty thousand years after the eruption;
• The Azores islands are very exposed to soil degradation processes, mainly through water and
coastal erosion. This fact is justified by the topographic, lithological and climatic characteristics of
the islands.

10. TERCEIRA ISLAND CLIMATE
• The Azores Islands has a mild temperate climate with an abundant rainfall year-round (1930 mm; Massot 2015);
• Temperatures are always very stable, around 15–25°C (59-77°F) most of the year. Such temperatures, combined
with a permanent high relative humidity, create a unique climate that despite its temperate location has many
characteristics of tropical and subtropical regions;
• The Gulf Stream, which passes relatively close by, keeps the sea waters at an average temperature between
17°C (62,6°F) and 23°C (73,4°F). The air is humid with an average relative humidity of around 75%;
• The region has been battered by tropical storms, including some with enough intensity to be considered
hurricanes;
• In general, Terceira has adequate climatic conditions for most economic activities.

11. AZOREAN AGRICULTURE
• The region's agriculture is characterised by the
strong weight of livestock production and
within livestock production the milk and dairy
sector clearly stands out. It is followed by beef
production;
• On Terceira Island, specialized dairy cattle
farms prevail, with a value above the average
of the Azores.
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AZOREAN AGRICULTURE

13. Organic Farming Mode
• The Azores possess unique natural
conditions, namely the climate and
terrain, which are exceptional for
organic agricultural production.
• In the Azores Autonomous Region,
certified organic agriculture began
in 1997.
• Currently there are about 81
holdings.
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14. TERCEIRA AGRICULTURE
• Terceira Island has ideal edaphoclimatic conditions to
develop agricultural activities that allow the
reduction of imports, decreasing the dependence
from abroad and the consequent ecological footprint
of the products consumed in the region;
• In addition, the subtropical climate of the island
allows the region to produce some fruit and
vegetable products that on the mainland would have
to be produced under forced agricultural conditions.

15. TERCEIRA AGRICULTURE
• In the forestry sector, Terceira is dominated by the
Cryptomeria japonica species;
• In the floriculture sector, the production of protea
plants stands out. This is a growing crop and is
exported to the main European markets;
• In the wine industry, Terceira has a reduced local
economic expression. Although there is a
demarcated region of Biscoitos with Quality Wine
Produced in a Demarcated Region, this culture
contributes to the landscape valorization of the
region for its cultural and touristic valorization.

16. TERCEIRA AGRICULTURE
• Terceira has natural conditions to develop
agricultural activities that allow the
substitution of imported products:
• vegetables (lettuces, tomatoes, green beans, etc.);
• fruit (apples, bananas, peaches and oranges),
helping to increase the archipelago's food
autonomy.
• However, the establishment of new farms
for these activities and others such as
organic farming and floriculture, faces a
problem:
Land availability !!!

17. Sustainable farming
Sustainable agriculture must be based
on practices that are economically
viable, capable of meeting food
needs, respectful to the environment
while ensuring the quality of life of
the society.

18. Measures we
propose:
reduce our
dependency on
imports;
boost our economy,
And consequently
improve the quality
of life of the local
population.

19. 1 - Awareness raising actions
• Raise awareness on producers to invest in other niche products,
allocating a larger agricultural area to horticulture and fruit farming,
since one of the major obstacles to the expansion of other agricultural
areas is the fact that land is scarce in the Azores, and most of the
agricultural land area is dedicated to monoculture of cows;
• Consumer awareness for local product consumption habits,
reinforcing the ecological and economic benefits of regional products,
as we are aware we cannot compete in quantity/price with tropical
countries, but we also know that the organoleptic qualities of a local
product are superior to an imported product. In addition to its quality,
local products have a smaller carbon footprint.

20. 2 - Fruticulture
• Invest in the production of differentiated
tropical products, which have already shown
themselves to be adapted to the climatic
conditions of the region, such as:
• Coffee plant;
• Avocado plant;
• Mango tree;
• Brazilian cherry plant;
• Papaya plant;
• Passion fruit plant;
• Physalis plant;
• Camelia sinensis plant.
Arabica coffee

21. 3 - Leafy and flowering plants
Considering that in the Azores we do not have problems of water scarcity, a problem which is very acute in the
Iberian Peninsula, we propose to invest in the production of plants that adapt to our climatic conditions
(temperature, humidity and rainfall), without the need for extensive irrigation, thus conserving this scarce
resource. In this way we propose an increase in the production of:
- Foliage;
- Green cutting plants;
- And tropical plants, such as heliconias, etc.

22. 4 - Donkey milk
• On Terceira island there are the only producers of
organic donkey milk in the Iberian Peninsula.
• Due to the unique properties of donkey milk, there is
a great demand for it in France, Czech Republic, Saudi
Arabia and Hong Kong, for the cosmetics’ sector
among others.
• Thus we believe that the production of donkey milk
with Organic Production Mode (BPM) should be
increased, as it is a differentiated product, with a high
added value and with great demand.

23. 5 - Beekeeping
• With the increase in floriculture, fruit
growing, vine growing and horticulture,
we could increase the production of
another product that has been growing in
the Azores, which is honey.
• In this sector, we can also produce a
honey with very peculiar characteristics
due to the diversity and richness of the
Azorean flora, incense honey and
multiflora.
Pittosporum undulatum

24. 6 - Increased uptake of Organic Production Mode (OPM)
or Sustainable Agriculture
• In Terceira beef and dairy cattle production is rooted, a sector in which we have a differentiated
quality product, whose cattle graze 365 days a year, although in economic terms it is not much
valued, except for the milk produced by OPM;
• Terceira was the first region in Portugal to produce organic milk, although
it is still far from the desired quantities.
• So we propose to make awareness campaigns, demonstrating the advantages in economic, social
and environmental terms of this production method, or if not possible, for a more sustainable
production method. We believe that "Happy Cows" produce top quality products.

25. Protect our home: Planet Earth.
This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-SA.

26. Bibliography
• https://angradoheroismo.pt/wp-
content/uploads/2018/07/plano_estrategico_desenvolvimento_ilha_terceira.pdf
• https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org
• https://www.aasm-cua.com.pt/aDefInfTec.asp?ID=178
• https://srea.azores.gov.pt
• http://montanheiros.com/pdf-files/pingo-lava/PingoLava2013-Solos-dos-Acores.pdf
• https://run.unl.pt/handle/10362/15939
• https://repositorio.uac.pt/bitstream/10400.3/3647/1/DissertMestradoMonicaCristinaM
endoncaFerreira2015.pdf
• https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11250-020-02442-z