The president of the Azores Agricultural Federation, Jorge Rita, announced today that six meteorological stations have been strategically placed in key areas for agriculture on the island of São Miguel. These stations aim to provide more precise information on various parameters such as wind speed and direction, temperature, air humidity, atmospheric pressure, precipitation, and solar radiation.
This initiative is part of the ‘LIFE IP CLIMAZ’ project, which addresses issues related to climate change adaptation and mitigation in the islands, in collaboration with the Regional Secretariat for the Environment and Climate Change.
Jorge Rita, who is also the president of the Agricultural Association of São Miguel Island, stated that this meteorological network will be managed by the Cooperativa União Agrícola. Through this platform, the cooperative will communicate weather conditions to local farmers.
“In practice, these stations allow farmers to predict the best timing for land preparation for sowing or harvesting. This predictability is crucial for the efficiency of our agricultural productions,” emphasized Jorge Rita, who also heads the cooperative.
The Cooperativa União Agrícola intends for this network to contribute to “integrated protection and precision agriculture, promoting improved farm management through more informed and preventive decisions.”
All data generated by these stations will enable the Cooperativa União Agrícola, via the Agri-CUA application developed within the project, to provide farmers with “very useful” information to perform their agricultural activities “more efficiently and sustainably, enhancing agriculture’s resilience against future climate change uncertainties,” added Rita.
The Cooperativa União Agrícola is set to present the Agri-CUA application on Wednesday at 8:00 PM local time (9:00 PM in Lisbon) during the 2nd Micaelense Corn Culture Meeting at the Exhibition Park in Santana, Rabo de Peixe, Ribeira Grande municipality in São Miguel.
