€10m worth of investment interventions to be made by end of July, says Agriculture Minister

Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, Maria Panayiotou, has said that calls for two investment interventions will be launched by the end of July for a total of €10 million.

She was speaking during press conference in Nicosia on 18 July, on the 20th anniversary of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in Cyprus, and also gave an update on the planning of the next calls under the CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027 for 2024.

According to the Minister, the new calls will cover investments with total expenditure ranging from €5,000 to €80,000, with the aid rate amounting to 80% of the total eligible expenditure.

In her statements to the press before the opening of the conference, Panayiotou said that the Common Agricultural Policy has provided since 2004  the primary sector and the rural world with €1.8 billion to enable it to grow and acquire infrastructure, adding that "we still have a long way to go, but we are here with new plans to continue to support our farmers."

"Today, on the occasion of CAP’s 20th anniversary, we are also announcing the small investment plan, as it is known to our farmers, which will be announced at the end of the month, July 31, with a €10 million euro portfolio, where farmers will be able to make investments up to €80,000 in infrastructure and a number of other smart irrigation systems, tools for sheep and goat farmers and everything that is needed to take us to the big investment plan that we will announce in fall, with all these basically showing the priorities we have set," she noted.

She added that the Ministry's goal is to provide farmers with infrastructure to enable them to have to the maximum extent what they need to achieve weather independence, improve the quality of production, and increase production in general.

In the presentation that followed, Panayiotou reviewed the work produced during the last twenty years, while she also presented the Ministry's plans for the immediate future in the context of the Common Agricultural Policy and the plans for the CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027.

According to the Minister, CAP is a multi-faceted and multi-dimensional policy that seeks to contribute to improving the competitiveness of the primary sector, protecting the environment and biodiversity, as well as improving the quality of life in the countryside and creating jobs.

She added that during this period, in order to serve the above objectives, investments by farmers and rural infrastructure projects have been have been granted aid, more than 30 thousand applicants are subsidised annually, while apart from funding and the implementation of projects with a significant impact on the Cypriot countryside, she also highlighted the networking of bodies related to rural development through the establishment and operation of the National Rural Network, which, she said, brought together farmers, research and academic institutions, environmental organisations, food processing industries and public bodies.

The positive impact of CAP interventions on the Cypriot society and the rural economy is enormous, the Minister continued, adding that in her opinion, the greatest achievement concerns the change of mindset in the rural community and the society, the development of a European culture and a culture of cooperation, as well as the adoption of the basic principles of the European project, while concepts such as the protection of the environment and biodiversity, the circular economy, the management of agricultural land with environmentally friendly practices, animal welfare, food safety and high quality food production have become a reality for famers and the wider society.

The Republic of Cyprus has now emerged from the first post-accession phase and has reached not only the level of full and active participation in European events but also has an active and leading role in shaping European policy, Panayiotou continued, adding that the Ministry of Agriculture is leading the efforts to simplify the Common Agricultural Policy, submits constructive positions, creates cooperations and synergies with other Member States and acts in such a way that policies are adopted for the benefit of the European Union.

She added that Cyprus is chairing for the year 2024 the EUMED 9 cooperation of the nine EU Member States bordering the Mediterranean Sea, having utilised this opportunity by organising monthly meetings of the 9 member state ministers before or after the meetings of the EU Council of Agriculture Ministers, contributing to the coordination of positions and increasing their negotiating power before the Council, achieving favourable changes for the benefit of farmers in the context of the revision of the Common Agricultural Policy regulatory framework.

She also said that Cyprus will host this year's EUMED 9 meeting between 1 and 3 September, which will be attended by the European Commissioner for Agriculture.

Regarding the new calls for interventions under the CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027, Panayiotou said that the Ministry of Agriculture will publish in July a joint call for two investment interventions, totaling €10 million.

According to the Minister, the new call includes priorities such as investments in areas with an altitude of 400 meters and above for professional and non-professional farmers (€3 million), investments in the Tilliria area (€500 thousand), investments in RES as well as in energy saving actions for professional farmers (€3 million), active crop protection systems with emphasis on anti-hail and rain protection (€2 million), specific targeted intervention for the purchase of artificial breastfeeding devices for sheep and goat farming (€500 thousand), the creation of shade net greenhouses in mountain and semi-mountain areas for vegetable production (€500 thousand) and the promotion of smart irrigation systems (€500 thousand).

She added that the new call covers total investments of €5 to €80 thousand, while the aid rates are increased compared to previous calls, with the aid rate for environmental actions (e.g. photovoltaic panels, anti-hail and smart irrigation systems) amounting to 80% of the total eligible expenditure, while an increase in aid rates is also foreseen for the other actions, with the minimum investment rate at 60% (and 65% for young people under 41 years old).

She also said that a number of additional calls are also expected, such as the call for intervention towards the promotion of the circular economy and other environmental infrastructure in the primary sector to reduce energy costs for pumping water, while the forthcoming calls also include the provision of aid for the purchase of crushers by community clusters adjacent to forest areas as a measure to prevent the spread of fires. An intervention to support the first establishment of new farmers is also planned for later this year.

In the short discussion that followed, the Minister of Agriculture said that efforts are constantly being made to improve coordination between different government departments, she focused again on the priority given by the CAP to the creation of new and the improvement of existing agricultural infrastructure, while she also referred to the cooperation with academic institutions in Cyprus and abroad with a view to improving the methods used and the exchange of know-how.

(Source: CNA)