The World Bank-funded Moldova Agriculture Competitiveness Project MAC-P, in concert with the Ministry of Environment, launched the fourth grant call within the post-investment grants program Sustainable Land Management, IPN reports.

According to a press release of the project’s team, the call for grant proposals is intended for agricultural producers from all over the country, except for the municipalities of Chisinau and Balti, which use sustainable land management practices and thus maintain the health and productivity of soil. The financing of sustainable land management measures includes the covering of costs for purchasing agricultural machinery designed to ensure the rational exploitation of land.

The farmers who bought agricultural equipment/machinery starting with November 1, 2015 and used sustainable land management practices such as No-till and Strip-till, integrated pest management, wooded protection strips and agro-forest and hydro-technical measures after November 1, 2015 can recover a part of their investment. The grants represent 50% of the investment, but not more than US$20,000 per applicant.

Applications can be submitted to the local offices of the Agency for Intervention and Payments in Agriculture until June 30.

So far, within the previous three grant calls, 111 farmers received 19.5 million in financial support. This money covered half of the investment made to purchase 147 units of agriculture machinery. Also, three beneficiaries got grants for implementing sustainable land management practices and measures.