"It is essential that the Ministry of Agriculture and associations work together. There are many problems to solve and our opinion needs to be heard," said Rui Garrido, president of ACOS, to Lusa news agency today.

The event, which celebrates 40 years in 2024, will take place at the Manuel Castro e Brito Fair and Exhibition Park, in Beja, starting next Tuesday and until 5 May.

Both the Government and the event's organising body have already announced the presence of Prime Minister Luís Montenegro at the inauguration, starting at 11:00 am on Tuesday, with a visit to the space.

The president of ACOS reminded Lusa that the agricultural fair is usually visited by numerous politicians, every year, and that the new Minister of Agriculture, José Manuel Fernandes, should also visit the event.

"We will have several government officials here and we will certainly have a meeting with the Minister [of Agriculture], where we will present him with the most pressing problems" in the sector, he said, stressing that he intends to address the region's problems, but also "some of agriculture in general".

Rui Garrido added that, despite not knowing José Manuel Fernandes, he has information that he "is a person who knows how to listen".

"As we were told, the [minister] likes to listen and knows how to listen. He likes to talk to associations and that will be essential," he stressed.

In addition, "we know that he is a person who knows the intricacies of Brussels well, knows how to negotiate, so I believe that the conditions are in place for us to do a good job," he added.

For the president of ACOS, there are "many issues" to be addressed with the new person responsible for the Agriculture portfolio, "starting with the revision of the PEPAC [Strategic Plan for the Common Agricultural Policy], which everyone has been talking about and which it is good to see implemented as quickly as possible".

"It ended in a hurry and, when the negotiation was over, it was already known that it was useless," he pointed out.

Rui Garrido added that there are other matters that need attention, such as "water management in Alqueva" or "the issue of dry land and the need for small irrigation systems to support dry land areas for the production of forage".

With more than a thousand exhibitors, Ovibeja, which this year has associativism as its central theme, is considered "the great fair of the south", which brings together "the entire Alentejo of this world".

In addition to strong agricultural and livestock components, the programme includes concerts, colloquia, entertainment, thematic and institutional pavilions, handicrafts, product sales displays, among many other attractions.

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