This research aims to evaluate whether agritourism is a sustainable activity, comparing the profiles of accommodation, farmers, and accommodation with agricultural activities. Four specific objectives drive this study: (a) examining the cultural/landscape, economic, environmental, and social indicators of sustainability; (b) comparing indicators of sustainability between groups; (c) revealing whether there is a significant cross-correlation between spatial distribution and its impact on sustainability metrics; (d) discussing the significance of these factors for tourism development policies. The present study uses various techniques to study the degree of equilibrium in the distribution of the accommodation and farms in relation to their sustainable impact. To verify this, we use the global Moran’s I and G (d) tests proposed by Getis and Ord. As well as analyzing local contrasts, LISA (Local Indicators of Spatial Association) and Hot Spot analysis are used for mapping. The main results reveal different profiles of sustainability, highlighting the accommodation profile with the lowest contribution to sustainable development, while profiles where the relationship between agriculture and tourism is most visible seem to perform better. In general, the main results obtained suggest that there is no direct relationship between spatial distribution and sustainability inputs, excluding the potential of endogenous resources, and suggesting the existence of imbalances in the creation of agritourism products.

There are different methodologies to assess landscape preferences, however there is no consensual methodology that can be replicated to identify their tourism potential. Recent studies have focused on agricultural landscape preferences due to their cultural characteristics. Although agricultural activity conflicts with the management models of natural protected areas, traditional models and sustainable practices reveal opportunities to boost tourism in this area, both for their aesthetic value, and for the opportunity to preserve biodiversity and maintain “lively landscapes”. The present study focuses on a double approach to collect data to measure the preferences for landscape typologies to realize outdoor/recreative activities in Tagus International Nature Reserve (TINR), among them, agricultural landscapes, such as the agro-silvopastural system “Dehesa/Montado” or olive grove. The preference of the landscapes were evaluated through photographs with pairwise comparison and without photographs observation, in which 174 respondents were consulted with. The different methodologies applied allowed for the extraction of different results, which led to the assumption that in fact there is no single methodology to assess preferences. However, the application of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) methodology with photographical pairwise comparison allowed for the extraction of more robust results when considering attractions with tourism typologies, revealing that “Cultural tourism/Rural mixed” and “Agritourism” were the most valued. This information is pertinent to support TINR managers and local tourism promoters to plan and structure products and services based on button-up methodologies.

Regional development can take place gradually or rapidly but it should always aim at increasing its population welfare.This population welfare results from wealth per capita in that same region.Both Sociology and Economics study and systematize actions that contribute to create wealth and, therefore, regional development.These sciences analyze actions and results, and systematize methodologies which may be replicated in case they are successful.The project +peach -Innovation and development in peach production in the Beira Interior region, funded by PRODER, aiming to contribute to both the overall recovery of the peach production sector and all stakeholders involved.This is achieved carrying out different activities during the production process as well as the increase in peach final price.This project applies the Triple Helix model (both in structure and organization) to the peach production sector in which both fruit growers and growers support organizations are the stakeholders.The most relevant aspects to be pointed out are the establishment of a knowledge network, inter-replacement tasks for stakeholders, and even future actions planning in a bottom-up perspective.It should be noted that this may create a dynamic space, increase innovation synergies, networking and cooperation among the different stakeholders.

Agritourism has been widely discussed in the literature. As the range of options for its interpretation increased, studies have come to focus their objectives on its systematization, evaluated with respect to the nature of the interactions between tourists and agriculture, the level of contact with agricultural activities, and the authenticity of the experience. Adding to this complexity is the association of agritourism with experiences related to the agri-food sector, as well as the typologies of accommodation. This research contributes to an improved understanding of agritourism based on evidence from a cross-border region between Portugal and Spain. We identify the links between agriculture and tourism by identifying different categories of agritourism activities via the application of geostatistical analysis. The main results highlight that landscapes, agricultural activities, and agri-food products have a positive influence in creating tourism products and services. Despite this result, passive agritourism activities prevail, such as tasting experiences, contact with endogenous products, enjoyment of the agricultural landscape, or on-farm entertainment. This reality highlights a gap related to authentic agritourism, pointing to the absence of or weak links to agricultural activities and weaknesses in the local “farm-to-table” channel. The grouping analysis results led to the creation of six homogeneous groups, three of which correspond to lodging establishments capable of creating agritourism. However, these groups represent only 39% of the supply. Given this reality, it is of utmost importance to implement policies that encourage tour operators to create agritourism products.

The objective of this study is to determine the suitability for the cultivation of emerging fruit crops in the Beira Baixa region. The suitability was examined for the present time and in the face of two future emission scenarios (RCP 4.5 and 8.5). For this purpose, the biophysical criteria determining the cultivation of pistachio tree and almond tree were processed using a G. The analysis was performed by the AHP. After dividing the problem into hierarchical levels of decision making, a pairwise comparison of criteria was performed to evaluate the weights of these criteria, based on a scale of importance. In the present conditions, about 16.4% of the study area is classified as highly suitable for almond tree and 15.9% to pistachio tree. For the future scenarios, the area with high suitability will increase both for almond tree and pistachio tree. The AHP was adequate in the evaluation of the emerging fruit tree species suitability, since it allowed the integration of the several criteria studied, being a useful tool, which allows the decision making and the resolution of problems.

Areas with low levels of transformation are alternative destinations for tourists who prefer to visit nonmassified places and have singular experiences. The benefits of these microdestinations are their local populations, traditional products, landscapes, and heritage, which, in turn, allow the cultural and gastronomic roots to be witnessed. Based on this assumption, the present research investigated landscape preferences in the Tejo/Tajo International Transboundary Biosphere Reserve (Portugal/Spain), where Dehesa/Montado and traditional olive groves play important economic and sociocultural roles. This investigation sought to compare the opinions of those who live there with those who visit the territory in terms of landscape and agritourism experience preferences. To this, 439 interviews were conducted, and the results were extracted through descriptive analysis techniques and parametric and nonparametric tests to understand the different opinions. The main results were that agricultural landscapes are among the most preferred, and visitors tend to give the landscape higher scores, while the local population has some ignorance of its potential. The potential of agritourism was revealed through the motivation expressed by the demand to participate in gastronomic experiences and have contact with local products, followed by participation in activities that allow people to enjoy the agricultural landscape and rural traditions. The results revealed that the agritourism concept is often confused with rural tourism and nature tourism. Thus, it is necessary to develop a strategy to support the tourism supply according to the concept of authentic agritourism. In this way, agricultural activity has an important role in driving sustainable tourism dynamics in cross-border regions and boosting new products based on the culture, nature, and biodiversity characteristics of a protected area.

Ecotourism can contribute to the conservation of environmental values, as well as to the development of positive synergies between agents in the tourism sector, tourists and the local population. The growing interest in tourism offers with low environmental impact, which support the local economy, translates into a competitive advantage for low-density territories. On the basis of this principle, the scope of the present study is intended to evaluate the potential of the existing natural and rural features in the Beira Baixa region, located in the central interior of Portugal, which can anchor the creation of sustainable tourism products. Despite the undeniable interest in carrying out studies to determine an aggregate suitability index for the development of ecotourism using spatial multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA), there are still no studies carried out in Portugal. The identification of areas suitable for the development of ecotourism, and their constraints, was carded out on the basis of the integration of nine criteria using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) in a geographical information system (GIS) environment. The results obtained reveal that the region has high suitability for the practice of ecotourism activities, given its important natural heritage. This study was innovative as it shows the ecotourism potential based on a diversity of criteria as an aid to public administration agents with functions in planning, territorial management and management of support mechanisms for the tourist sector. The use of the landscape diversity criteria, which had not yet been tested in previous studies, proved to be important in determining the ecotourism potential of the region, together with the landscape value based in the importance of the Montado agrosystem, which supports a variety of sustainable tourist activities. The information produced in the study may be useful for the design of new policies for valuing natural resources through tourism.

La actividad turística es una de las industrias más importantes a nivel mundial debido a los ingentes ingresos que genera.En torno al 25% del gasto total que realizan los turistas se destina a la alimentación, por lo que la agricultura es un pilar básico.Al mismo tiempo, puede considerarse como un recurso turístico,

Although the olive grove is contemplated in the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO with the intent to preserve and develop it, there are territories where the olive landscapes show some signs of ageing and abandonment, especially in remote areas. However, the "trilogy" that brings together nature, heritage and culture seem to provide olive groves with an unexpected framework to encourage the new land uses, namely through the valorisation of touristic dynamics that rely on the enjoyment of gastronomy and landscape elements. And it is in this symbiosis that olive oil tourism can be anchored in agritourism, ecotourism or olive oil tourism, modalities that value agriculture and nature, which include the environmental, economic, and social development of rural communities as well. The present study evaluates the olive grove as a tourist potential in the International Tagus Natural Park (PNTI), where stone wall terraces are maintained and preserved to sustain the traditional olive trees. Data on touristic products, resources and activities were listed, and some indicators were evaluated, specifically: scientific, educative and tourist values of the olive grove. The results concluded that the olive grove at PNTI can be used as a tourist resource to attract tourists to this cross-border destination, especially based on a sustainable tourism strategy.

Peach is a very perishable climacteric fruit whose firmness may decay rapidly depending on the temperature. Refrigeration is usually used to delay ripening and maintain fruit quality. However, refrigeration management is often not optimized. This work aims to characterize the refrigeration conditions (temperature and humidity) of 3 peach producers of Beira Interior region, Portugal. Additionally, correlate those conditions with peach quality evolution comparing 2 peach cultivars – Royal Summer and Royal Time – with similar harvest dates but different acidity content. The 3 refrigeration chambers monitored have very distinct conditions of average air temperature, namely 8.29±3.53 °C (local C), 5.50±0.88 °C (local G) and 0.80±0.83 °C (local L). At harvest time ‘Royal Summer’ firmness was 6.61 kgf and ‘Royal Time’ was 5.20 kgf. Fruit firmness decreases faster for ‘Royal Time’ cultivar than for ‘Royal Summer’. The results suggest that in general farmers use inadequate range temperature for a long conservation period. However, for short periods, 7 to 10 days, conditions near those of local G allow good quality fruits maintenance without lacking of ripening or problems of chilling injury, and, simultaneously, save energy that is also not only a desirable international goal but also contributes to decreasing of production costs.

Although the olive grove is contemplated in the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO with the intent to preserve and develop it, there are territories where the olive landscapes show some signs of ageing and abandonment, especially in remote areas. However, the “trilogy” that brings together nature, heritage and culture seem to provide olive groves with an unexpected framework to encourage the new land uses, namely through the valorisation of touristic dynamics that rely on the enjoyment of gastronomy and landscape elements. And it is in this symbiosis that olive oil tourism can be anchored in agritourism, ecotourism or olive oil tourism, modalities that value agriculture and nature, which include the environmental, economic, and social development of rural communities as well. The present study evaluates the olive grove as a tourist potential in the International Tagus Natural Park (PNTI), where stone wall terraces are maintained and preserved to sustain the traditional olive trees. Data on touristic products, resources and activities were listed, and some indicators were evaluated, specifically: scientific, educative and tourist values of the olive grove. The results concluded that the olive grove at PNTI can be used as a tourist resource to attract tourists to this cross-border destination, especially based on a sustainable tourism strategy.

Fruit production is an important component of agricultural production in Portugal, and it has a positive impact on the economy, especially in rural areas. In recent years, there has been increased investment in so-called ‘emerging crops’. It is agreed that using the crops that are best suited to the soil and climate conditions as well as the socio-economic environment promotes sustainable use in rural areas. The objective of this study is to determine the suitability of different emerging fruit crops for cultivation in the Beira Baixa region based on analysis of soil and climate factors. The pistachio tree (Pistacia vera L.), strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo L.), almond tree (Prunus dulcis (Mill.) DA Webb) and walnut tree (Juglans regia L.) were checked against the biophysical criteria for cultivation. The results were processed using a geographic information system. Analysis was performed using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP). Thus, after dividing the problem into hierarchical levels of decision-making, a pairwise comparison of criteria was performed to evaluate the weights of these criteria based on a scale of importance. Then, the consistency of these operations was validated. The AHP was adequate for evaluation of fruit tree species’ suitability since it enabled integration of several criteria, decision-making and problem resolution. It is essential to be aware of the suitability and resilience of new crops in order to meet the need to adapt to climate change.

The irrigation patterns in two peach orchards, located in the central eastern region of Portugal, called “Beira Interior”, and the effect of different amounts of irrigation on the total production and fruit quality were evaluated. The experiment was conducted in 2016, in two different orchards, and included three treatments correspondent to three different flow rates per tree: 8, 12 and 16 l/hour. The water balance, which included the water supplied by rain and irrigation and the crop evapotranspiration, was developed. At harvest, crop production, pulp firmness and percentage of the total soluble solids were evaluated. There were no significant differences between treatments in the average production per tree. However, in one of the orchards production increased with the volume of irrigation. In the same orchard, fruit firmness decreased with the increasing water supply. Total soluble solids had decreased with the increasing water supply in both orchards, probably as a consequence of the dilution effect due, directly, to the water incorporated in the fruits, or, indirectly, to the larger fruits produced by the trees that were irrigated more. In general, the treatments used in this study as well as in the farmers’ practices, the supplied water was in deficit, but the farmers tend empirically to follow closely the evolution of evapotranspiration. Keywords: Deficit irrigation, Peach tree, Production, Total soluble solids, Fruit firmness

In Portugal the main peach (Prunus persica) production area is located in the central region of the country, where cherry and almond production coexist. This region is characterized by mild winters and dry hot summers. The annual rainfall ranges from 600 to 800 mm and the maximum temperature sometimes rises up the 40 degrees C. These climatic conditions are favourable to soil organic matter degradation. However, the techniques of soil maintenance of no row mobilization and soil grass cover between rows used in peach orchards can have a positive effect on soil organic matter content as well as on soil fertility. In order to monitor the effect of orchard management on soil fertility we monitored 30 peach orchards in the Beira Interior region through an experimental unit/orchard, marked just after orchard installation. In each experimental unit soil samples were collected in planted row (1 m from the marked plant) and in the space between rows (2 m from the marked plant), to monitor both the effects of orchard management of row and between row space. All the sampling points were geo-referenced. After the first cycle, plant vigor was evaluated by trunk sectional area (TSA) and correlated with soil fertility parameters and agricultural practices. The main results indicate that just after plantation organic matter content was 2.8% and there were no significant differences between row and between row samples. The average soil pH was 6.3 in row and 6.1 between rows. The average P2O5 content was 201 mg kg(-1) in row and 114 mg kg(-1) between rows. K2O content was 404 mg kg(-1) in row and 242 mg kg(-1) between rows. These results indicate that at plantation time, there was deep fertilization in the rows. Principal component analysis indicates that first year plant growth was negatively correlated to the presence of weeds during first annual cycle and to soil copper content.

Agriculture, as a tourism product is based on a resource diversity that enables different uses and contributes to the development of rural areas. Particularly noteworthy is the collective heritage of rural areas, especially the agrarian and rural landscapes and the gastronomic specificities as the agri-food products and wine are inseparable from the local identity and culture. The opportunity to participate in agriculture activities and to bring farmers and tourists closer together may be viable with the implementation of an agritourism activity. However, this product should not be disconnected from the rural environment. This study is based on a systematic literature review and the main conclusions indicate some orientations for the Portuguese and Spanish reality.

La agricultura, como producto turístico, se basa en una diversidad recursos que permiten múltiples usos, de lo que deriva un enorme potencial de desarrollo para las áreas rurales. Destacan el patrimonio colectivo, el paisaje agrario y el entorno rural, además del rico patrimonio gastronómico donde los productos agroalimentarios y el vino son indisociables de su historia e identidad. La oportunidad de participar en tareas agrícolas y contactar con los agricultores puede ser factible con la puesta en marcha del agroturismo, aunque ese producto no debe desvincularse del entorno rural. Las conclusiones presentadas se basan en un análisis sistemático de la literatura, buscando algunas orientaciones para la realidad de Portugal y España.

Cherry is a highly perishable fruit widely appreciated that is only commercialized during a short period. The post-harvest control and monitoring of this fruit is central and essential for optimal consumption in its highest state of quality. The conservation process aimed to inhibit the microbial propagation is usually accomplished by low temperatures and/or variable atmosphere composition. This paper describes experimental tests conducted in different refrigeration chambers located in industrial and laboratorial facilities. The latter one includes modified atmosphere and controlled atmosphere chambers. The tests were performed with four different concentration of O-2 and CO2 in the controlled atmosphere chamber. Fruit samples extracted from each chamber were analyzed at specific residence times and several organoleptic characteristics were analyzed. The results show that the modified and controlled atmosphere maintain the fruit quality in terms of size, color, appearance and firmness, thus increasing their shelf life and food safety.