Aid for injured farmers. Decision of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
An increase of up to PLN 317 million in the pool of funds allocated to owners of plantations of fruit trees, shrubs and vineyards affected by spring frosts is envisaged in the regulations developed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The assumptions of the draft regulation of the Council of Ministers on the implementation by the Agency for the Restructuring and Modernization of Agriculture of tasks related to the provision of extraordinary financial support to the fruit and vegetable sector and the wine sector affected by unfavorable climatic phenomena were published on Monday in the list of legislative and programmatic work of the Council of Ministers.
As indicated by the Ministry of Agriculture, the proposed regulation of the Council of Ministers aims to implement the implementing regulation of the European Commission, which allocated an EU aid budget to Poland worth 37 million euros.. The Commission regulation provides that the aid must be paid before 31 January 2025, which – as indicated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development – means a very short time to carry out the national legislative process and implement the aid.
Up to PLN 317 million for spring frosts and hail. The ministry made a decision
At the same time, the Commission considered the possibility of increasing the budget available for payments to producers by up to 200%. granted aid from the European Union. “Preliminary analyses show that the damage to crops caused by frost and hail was very high and affected a large part of the country, therefore the Polish authorities decided to increase the European Union budget allocated to Poland from national funds by an amount not exceeding PLN 317 million. National aid will come from CAP (Common Agricultural Policy – PAP) co-financing funds within the framework of subsidies from the special reserve,” the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said.
As the ministry recalled, the weather conditions in March this year were favorable for plant vegetation and contributed to its acceleration. As a result, many plantations of fruit trees, shrubs and vineyards began to bloom and bear fruit. In the second half of April, extraordinary frosts ranging from -6 to -8 degrees Celsius occurred across a large area of Poland, affecting some orchards, berry plantations and vineyards in regions with the highest concentration of these crops.. In turn, in May of this year there were losses caused by hail in raspberry, currant and strawberry crops and in orchards.
In the proposed regulation, the task of distributing aid funds was entrusted to the Agency for the Restructuring and Modernisation of Agriculture (ARiMR). According to the Ministry of Agriculture, a farmer who owns a farm with a total area of at least 1 ha, where he grows at least one crop belonging to the fruit or wine sector, and where crops have been grown for 15 to 30 years will be able to apply for the aid in April 2024, there was damage caused by spring frosts or in the period from 1 to 31 May 2024 – damage caused by hail.
