cultivar_22_Final_EN

Portugal, the Mediterranean and the Atlantic: A Geographical Study 119 Orlando Ribeiro: a self-portrait along the coast and low in inland areas, the develop- ment of flooded rice fields, the periodic migrations of labourers that work in them, the rarity of cattle sheds, an outdoor life lived in rickety cottages or dark houses where mosquitoes dwell during the day seem like key factors in the development or continuation of fever endemics … On the map of these diseases, Portugal is quite well represented.” The book remains relevant on many aspects of the economy and rural landscape. Olive trees and vines remain decisive in terms of the landscape and diet. Portugal is still defined by smallholdings in the north and centre and large estates in the south. The trend in depopulation in rural areas has continued along- side the outsourcing of the economy. In fact, low incomes associated with farming still fail to attract people, above all the educated young who prefer to work and live in urban areas. Depopulation leads to the ageing of rural populations, deserted villages and abandoned farming areas. In terms of the for- estry sector, cork continues to dominate in Portugal “…as the leading cork-producing country, accounting for around half of world production” . Agriculture is now less important for the economy but has become more modernised, especially after Portugal joinied what was then the EEC. Human labour has been replaced by machinery. Cereals have been overtaken by vegetable and fruit crops. Maize has supplanted wheat as a cereal, above all as animal feed, when previously it was used to make bread. More productive irrigated crops are beginning to prevail over dry crops. Farm labour has become better educated. In 1945, most of the population worked in agriculture, the basis of their subsistence. In 2020, only a small part does so as a living or as a complement to their main source of income. Euca- lyptus trees, rarely mentioned in the book, have gained ground over the maritime pine and the agri- cultural and pastoral activity once widespread in the central region. “Only pine and lately eucalyptus woods are gaining ground, rising up the wooded slopes, surrounding the cultivated land of villages, in small clusters or thick monotonous and interminable woods.”