Farmers to be granted subsidies of BGN 800 mln for arable land treatment
A subsidy of BGN 800 mln is already being transferred under the State Fund Agriculture to the bank accounts of approximately 90, 000 farmers, announced yesterday the Fund. The amounts should be paid by January 31. Grants will not be allocated to those who failed to submit proper funding applications, specified a few days ago Minister of Agriculture, Miroslav Naydenov.
Under the Single Payment Scheme per area unit, a total of 3,550 million hectares have been declared, while 3,100 million hectares have been declared under the schemes for national additional payments. The lands declared in 2011 were 5% more than in 2010, said Svilen Kostov, the Deputy Executive Director of State Fund Agriculture. According to him, a total of 89,000 farmers will be granted EU subsidies amounting to BGN 780 mln, which means a grant of BGN 25 per decare of arable land. Out of these funds, a total of 68,000 farmers will each receive an extra payment of BGN 3 per decare. Pursuant to EU legislation, subsidies will not be granted to farmers who have declared a 20% difference between the declared and actual arable area. Besides, there will be a reduction in the projected financial aid for farmers for whom the reported difference between the established and declared area is 3%, explained the Fund. Farmers who have detected a discrepancy in the data will be able to submit their claims in February. After the consideration of all filed complaints, in March, additional payments will be transferred to the farmers whose claims have been approved by the court. The European Commission set June 30 as the final deadline for the grant payment.
The branch organisations of bio-producers warned, in turn, that not even 10% have been absorbed from the projected BGN 800 mln intended for agri-environment, which our country has the right to use for the period from 2007 to 2014. After 2014, the EC provided that the basic payments per hectare of arable land intended for conventional agriculture activities should be increased by another 30% for "environmental practices" which will be mandatory for all farmers.
Text and photo: www.klassa.bg
(25.01.2012)