The farmers willing to plant cherry, apricot, plum or peach orchards will be entitled to subventions of 20,000 to 30,000 lei per hectare, and the subsidy for a hectare of a newly-created berry farm will be 50,000 lei, under the 2014 Regulation on Farm Subsidies, which was approved by the Government Wednesday.
Under the Regulation, the subsidy for removing multi-annual plantations rose from 3,000 to 5000 lei per hectare. In a move to further stimulate investment in greenhouse agriculture, subsidies rose to 60% for individual farmers and to 70% for groups of farmers.
To stimulate irrigation agriculture, the Government rose specific subsidies by up to 50%. The animal farms looking to buy and upgrade equipment will enjoy a subsidy of up to 60% of the investment's worth in the case of cattle farms and of up to 50% in the case of sheep farms. This year, fish farms will benefit from subsidies too.
For the packaging facilities located in rural areas, the subsidies' worth rose to 50%, and the upper limit rose from 2.5 million to 4.5 million lei.
The age threshold rose from 30 to 35 years or younger for a producer to qualify as a young farmer and be entitled to a 10% bonus to subsidies.
In 2014, the agricultural subvention fund rose to 500 million from 400 million lei last year. Of the total, 46 million lei was granted by the European Commission.
