Roxo irrigation scheme plans pressurised pipes and formal inclusion of 2,300 hectares
The association running the Roxo irrigation scheme in the Baixo Alentejo wants to replace the gravity-fed distribution network with buried high-pressure pipes, cutting water losses. The works include a regulating reservoir at Xacafre, a new intake on the main canal and a pumping station feeding secondary networks. The plan would also formally bring in about 2,329 hectares that have been irrigated on a precarious basis since 2015. The scheme, running since 1968, serves 8,561 hectares across Aljustrel, Ferreira do Alentejo and Santiago do Cacém. Public consultation on the environmental impact study runs until 9 December through the Participa portal. The total investment has not been disclosed.
Applications open for funding to turn scrubland into new pasture
Applications are currently open for a measure that supports converting scrubland into new pasture, under call notice no. 03/2026. The call runs on a rolling basis and stays open until the available funding of 300,000 euros is used up. Applicants submit through the restricted area of the IFAP portal, under the fuel-load reduction section of the Environmental Fund measures. A support manual for submitting applications is available in the relevant section of the portal.
Regenerative farmer questions whether industrial agriculture is really needed to feed the world
A Portuguese regenerative farmer challenges the idea that industrial agriculture is the only way to feed a growing population. He notes that the world already produces enough food, yet hundreds of millions go hungry while obesity and metabolic disease spread. In his view, hunger stems from poverty, inequality, conflict, waste and distribution as much as from output. He says monoculture, synthetic fertilisers and fossil energy bring hidden environmental and health costs, and concentrate farming in fewer hands. He calls for a shift from producing more to producing better, treating soil and ecosystems as living communities rather than raw material.
Used electric cars could widen access to electric mobility in Portugal
Interest in second-hand electric vehicles is climbing in Portugal: a carVertical study found history-check queries for them rose 49% from 2024 to 2025 and 98% from 2025 to 2026. The figures are not sales data, but they signal demand. New electric cars remain costly for households, which lack the tax advantages companies enjoy, while heavy depreciation of some models is bringing recent, advanced vehicles to the used market at lower prices. Battery condition and cost remain the main worry: 67.2% of surveyed European used-car traders call it a major barrier. With the national fleet averaging about 14 years old, the piece argues dealers must provide credible battery assessments.
Coimbra mayor urges professional home-care networks at local health congress
Coimbra's mayor, Helena Teodósio, opened a two-day health congress on 29 and 30 October organised by the city's local health unit, ULS Coimbra, and held at the São Pedro social and parish centre. She argued that care close to home is both a matter of comfort and of clinical safety, since it makes early detection of illness more likely. She called for professional home-support teams linked to health services, and for measures to prevent dependency becoming institutionalisation. Citing Pordata, she warned that today's 40-year-olds without siblings may have only one person to rely on at 75, shifting care costs to institutions and public finances. She also said care work must be properly paid.
