According to information released today, the Interprofessional Council of the Port and Douro Wine Institute (IVDP) approved, for the 2024 campaign, a reduction in the maximum yield per hectare of vineyards from 55 hectoliters to 45 for red wine and from 65 hectoliters to 60 for white wine. The proposal presented by the trade had the tie-breaking vote of the IVDP president, Gilberto Igrejas, who, after being contacted by the Lusa agency, did not want to comment on the matter. In turn, the production informed that it voted against because it considers that it is a "generalized reduction in the demarcated region, blindly and without criteria". On the part of the trade, António Filipe, from the Association of Port Wine Companies (AEVP), said that there is a serious problem of excess wine in the Douro, in Portugal and in several parts of the world and, therefore, pointed out to the need to take measures to reverse this situation. "One of the measures that we proposed in the short term is this question of limiting productivity in the Douro Demarcated Region", he said, emphasizing, however, that those who are able to prove that they have higher productions may request the IVDP to verify the plot and obtain a productivity increase of up to 20%. "We want to give a signal to the region that it is necessary to think about supply management and, on the other hand, also to, in a way, moralize the functioning of the sector, adjusting productivity to what has historically been the values registered in the region", he explained. António Filipe also refuted that the trade wants to drastically limit supply. The representative associations of production, the Douro Renewal Federation (FRD) and the Douro Farmers Association (ALD), in a joint statement, pointed to a "great and sharp decrease in income for the winegrower, in addition to the very high production costs already existing, which translates into a calamity for production in the Douro". These organizations proposed reducing the yield per hectare for the lowest densities. "As a result of the blind and indiscriminate reduction in yield per hectare proposed by the trade, there will be an increase in grapes without a designation of origin that will be paid at a substantially lower price and many of them without a purchase forecast", they also said. Rui Paredes, from the FRD, also classified the "lack of a registry at the IVDP" as "a problem", because, in this way, it is not possible to understand whether or not there is more vineyard area, also considering that the registry is an essential tool to decide on the yield per hectare in a region that is subdivided into three different sub-regions. The drops in Port wine sales that have been felt in recent years, make the FRD and the ALD foresee a decrease in the quantity of benefit authorization in the next harvest and the consequent increase in the quantity of grapes available for wines with Controlled Designation of Origin (DOC) Douro and Protected Geographical Indication (PGI). Last year, the Douro Demarcated Region benefited, that is, transformed a total of 104 thousand pipes of must into Port wine, 12 thousand less than the previous year. Last year's harvest was marked by some social unrest in the region because, invoking difficulties in selling wine, large companies did not buy or bought grapes in less quantity from producers. Within the Interprofessional, a working group was created that is analyzing other measures for the Douro, such as limiting the entry of wines from outside the region, the production of brandy in the Douro, the uprooting of vineyards and green pruning (harvest), that is, the cutting of grapes considered to be the most in a vine. Read Also: Vultures attack in Mogadouro and kill heifer after labor (Portuguese version)