A
resident Danish entrepreneur, Brian Knudsen, is looking to transform
large tracts of unproductive land around Lagoa in the Algarve to considerably expand
the quantity of special crops he has started growing and exporting
from the area.
In
May 2016 Knudsen obtained a 15-year rental agreement to take over 12
hectares of state-owned farmland between Lagoa and Sesmarias that had
remained abandoned for decades.
Having
carefully prepared the soil, installed an irrigation system and sown
a type of sweet pea beloved in Denmark as snacks, he was able to
harvest 15 tonnes of the healthy delicacy this March.
Since then, on the same
land, he has produced large quantities of pumpkins and butternut
squash for the Dutch and UK markets. Huge truckloads have been packed
and sent northward in recent weeks.
Never
before have crops like this been grown in Lagoa for export. And this
is just the start.
The
ideal climate and soils in the Lagoa area, combined with the demand
for fresh produce in northern Europe, are why Knudsen is now looking
for much more land, another 40 hectares if possible.
He
is seeking long-term rental contracts with private owners within
the municipality, preferably for land with access to Silves reservoir
water channels, or at least where boreholes could be drilled to tap
into underground sources.
Meanwhile,
Knudsen’s team recently planted 15,000 more pumpkins for maturing
in October. Special events are going to be arranged so that local
children and families can come and pick their own pumpkins for
Halloween celebrations.
Educating
groups of children about the nature of agriculture and farming
methods is high on Knudsen's agenda once his sowing and harvesting
schedules both in Portugal and Denmark have settled down a bit.
He also wants to steadily
progress towards organic production, focusing still on sweet peas,
pumpkins and squash, but introducing onions and other crops deemed
to be particularly healthy and increasingly in demand.
“We see a very bright
future here,” says 40-year-old Knudsen who regularly travels to
Denmark where he has similar business interests. He is planning to
sell up there, however, and focus exclusively on the Algarve.
He and his Danish wife and
their two children have been living in the Lagoa area since 2010 and
this is where they intend to stay.
Brian Knudsen in his Lagoa pumpkin field
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butternut squash bound for Holland
