Ribatejo

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Agriculture

The drier upland region to the north is densely populated and intensively farmed, mainly by smallholdings practising mixed farming (wheat, olives, citrus fruits, figs). The area to the south, on the other hand, is sparsely populated. Here the large estates and the increasing custom of singlecrop farming (wheat, olives, corkoaks) show the same agricultural structure as in the Alentejo region to the south.

The water meadows, which form a strip some 50km/30mi wide along the Tagus and which are flooded every spring (January-April), provide ideal conditions for growing grain and rice.

Here, too, is the grazing land, often rather acidic, for the traditional horse and cattle rearing. Most of Portugal's fighting bulls come from Ribatejo, especially from around Vila Franca de Xira.