1,500 applicants have a chance for funding
Admission is pending the intervention “Assisting the many small farms” from the Strategic Plan. The Ministry of Agriculture and Food presented draft application guidelinesand according to the indicative schedule, the reception of applications will begin on November 15.
The District Agricultural Advisory Services are committed to helping smallholder farmers develop a business plan.
The intervention will have a budget of 30 million euros, and the individual aid will be 20,000 euros. This means that 1,500 applicants have a chance for approval.
The payment of the aid will be in two stages with two equal parts. The first will be paid within two months after the approval of the project proposal, the second – after an inspection by the Paying Agency (PA), which will establish the correct implementation of the business plan.
Conditions
Individuals over the age of 18 can apply for the intervention; Sole traders (ET), sole proprietorships (LLCs) and limited liability companies (LLCs) registered under the Commercial Law; cooperatives registered under the Cooperatives Act.
On the date of submission of the application for support, applicants must be registered as farmers in accordance with Ordinance No. 3 of 1999 on the creation and maintenance of a register of farmers (promulgated, SG No. 10 of 1999). They must own functioning farms. If they are livestock breeders, they must have a registered livestock facility under Art. 137 of the Act on Veterinary Medical Activity.
Small farms are required to have an economic size of the farm, measured in standard production volume (SPO) within the limits of 3,000 euros and up to and including 8,000 euros.
When the applicant submitted an application for assistance under direct payment interventions, a comparison is made between the area last applied for assistance under these schemes and measures and the agricultural land that he declared to be involved in the calculation of the economic size of the farm.
When it is established that the difference between the size of the requested areas under direct payment interventions exceeds by more than 3 percent those indicated in the application for support, the applicant should submit a motivated written justification, accompanied by supporting evidence, regarding the reasons for this difference.
Support is provided for a maximum period of 5 years, counted from the submission of the support application, only if a business plan is presented.
The implementation of the business plan (after the applicant’s approval with a signed administrative contract) must begin no later than 9 months from the date of the decision to grant assistance, but no earlier than the date of submission of the application for assistance.
The business plan must demonstrate an implementation period of up to 36 months and bet on an increase in the economic size of the holding compared to the initial size by at least 3,000 EUR SPO, or by at least 2,000 EUR SPO in the case of an increase in the economic size of holdings only with bee colonies, large or small ruminants for milk or meat.
The business plan must show that the applicant will maintain an increase in the holding, measured in SPO, for the period from the submission of the request for the second payment until the expiry of five years from the date of submission of the application for support.
It must include an investment in machines, or facilities, or equipment, or the performance of construction and assembly works or agricultural land related to the activity of the agricultural holding, worth not less than 35% (3,500.00 euros) of the amount of the first payment received.
The end date of the period for checking the implementation of the business plan must be no earlier than 2 years and no later than 3 years and six months, counted from the date of submission of the application for assistance.
Read all conditions in the published application guidelines
Evaluation
When evaluating the project, the most points – 15 – are given for:
- Project proposals with investments in innovative technologies for the economy, such as – innovative production technologies, digital technologies for production and organization in agriculture, RES and automation of work processes in agricultural production, including irrigation systems, as well as activities ensuring the protection of environmental components environment, coping with climate change, including improving the biosecurity of livestock facilities.
10 points are awarded for:
- Project proposals from applicants with agricultural holdings with a higher production volume
- Project proposals with activities aimed at the “Fruits and vegetables” sector and/or the “Livestock” sector and/or the “Essential oil and medicinal crops” sector, where the SPO of the applicant’s agricultural holding at the time of application is formed by farmed animals and/or crops from the “Fruits and vegetables” sector, and/or the “Essential oil and medicinal crops” sector
Read more: What conditions must be met by young farmers under the intervention, which is about to be opened
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