Wild boars to cause $8 million corn crop losses by 2023 – Anpromis

Wild boars caused around 8 million euros in damage to corn fields in 2023, the sector’s producers association said today, calling for an action plan.

“According to a survey launched by Anpromis (National Association of Maize and Sorghum Producers), the damage caused by wild boars to its members’ maize fields in 2023 was extremely high, around 8 million euros,” he said in a statement.

Given the “uncontrolled increase” in wild boar numbers in recent years, the association calls for the “immediate implementation” of the wild boar strategy and action plan proposed in Portugal by 2023.

Anpromis met with the Institute for Conservation of Nature and Forests (ICNF) on Thursday.

In the same report, Anpromis president Jorge Neves said that “national corn producers cannot continue to be punished for not implementing a plan proposed last year that has inexplicably been implemented to this day.”

Portugal has about 110,000 hectares of corn under cultivation, with an estimated average annual grain corn production of 700,000 tonnes, according to Anpromis.

Portugal’s corn self-sufficiency is about 30%.