[PIO] Opening of applications for extensification and headage payments through the Common Agricultural Policy Strategic Plan 2023-2027

Over €65 million to be allocated 30.000 farmers[/I][/I]

The Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment and the Cyprus Rural Payments Agency are launching the Direct Payments and Rural Development Interventions (extensification and headage payments), aiming to provide financial support to 30.000 farmers with more than €65 million.

The announcement of the Interventions started today, 9 April, with the extensification measures and will continue tomorrow, 10 April, with the announcement of the header subsidies. It is noted that the financial support for the five-year period 2023-2027 for the specific Interventions exceeds €300 million. An example is the "Basic Income Support for Sustainability" in the form of decoupled aid, which is the main tool to support agricultural income, with the level of support being common throughout the territory of the Republic of Cyprus, effectively controlled by the State. The total budget for the five-year period is €155.2 million.

Other important Interventions included are the following:

2. "Coupled aid for citrus trees located in the buffer zone" with a five-year budget of €1.1 million.
3. "Complementary aid for young people", which concerns additional support for sustainability, in the form of a decoupled aid, aimed at providing additional support for the agricultural income of young farmers.
4. 'Complementary redistributive income support', aimed at providing adequate support for small and medium-sized farms. Beneficiaries are holders of agricultural holdings of more than 3 decares.
5. "Environmental, climate and other management commitments", comprising a series of actions contributing to environmental protection and reducing the impact of climate change, with a total budget for the five-year period of €33 million;
6. "Organic farming and livestock" with a five-year budget of €21.9 million.
7. "Support for areas facing natural or other handicaps", with a five-year budget of €26.5 million, to compensate for the economic losses and additional costs incurred in carrying out agricultural activity in these areas.
8. "Commitment to reduce the use of antibiotics", providing for support for the implementation of a three-year programme of activities aimed at reducing the use of antibiotics in pigs.

Ecological Programmes now also play their role in the CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027, with a five-year budget of around €55 million.Ecological Interventions include actions related to banana crops, in particular the removal of trees from the previous year's plantation, the removal by pruning of old leaves and the proper keeping of farmers' records. It also includes the Action for the shredding of prunings and the application of plant residues and the use of compost, with a five-year budget of approximately €6.6 million. Also included in the Ecological Programmes is the Action related to the "Application of friendly agricultural practices in carob cultivation", as well as Actions to reduce soil and water pollution by chemical plant protection products.

The submission of the Single Application for Extensive Subsidies (EAS) is done electronically through the Electronic Application Submission System (EAS System), using personal passwords.

The application dates are listed below:

1. Submit Single Application for Extensive Allowances: 09/04/2024 - 09/05/2024
2. Submit Single Application for Extensive Allowances with penalty: 10/05/2024 - 03/06/2024
3. Last date for amendments to applications: 25/10/2024*

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*With restrictions as provided for in the Regulations governing the EAS.

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